


Ronald Weasley's Strategies

by MoonlightVampiress



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-13
Updated: 2016-07-25
Packaged: 2018-03-01 08:22:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 64,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2766221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonlightVampiress/pseuds/MoonlightVampiress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ronald Weasley is bored after the defeat of Voldemort. He wants to do something to liven up the 7th year instead of just concentrating on his studies. Oh! He knows what to do. He will get Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy together.</p>
<p>Warnings: Will be based on chapter.  There are M/M, F/F, and M/F relationships in this.  If it makes you uncomfortable then please do not read it. Otherwise enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Harry Potter or anything associated with Harry Potter. I do not make any money off of these works of fiction. 
> 
> The characters are OOC and this is NOT fully HBP compliant and definitely not DH compliant. I was just re-reading the books and this popped into my head. The prologue chapter is a bit generic for the category. 
> 
> I also have this work posted on other sites under the same pen name of Moonlight Vampiress. I have it under AidaLily on others.

Voldemort was defeated.

After Hermione's tireless research, they found a spell that would attack and destroy all pieces of a person no matter where. This spell did not need to go through walls or anything like that but simply be added to a potion, cast upon Voldemort himself, or even cast into the air to seek out Voldemort's soul. It was a seeker spell and the magic simply sought out the pieces without any artifact needing to be destroyed. How ridiculously simple and it took a sixteen year old to find a spell the older generations should have.

Seriously, they had been fighting this mad man for over six years since becoming Harry's friend and yet all it took was a simple seeking spell to defeat him. Why had no one thought of that before? Oh yes, the people fighting were just as bad as Voldemort, they felt to defeat power they needed more power. Of course they thought of it like that. After all, these were older wizards who had teenagers fighting a war because they insisted on living their lives by prophecy, instead of taking charge and dealing with the problem themselves.

This however left a really huge problem.

It was their seventh year and there was nothing to do besides study for exams. Those who had to participate in the war didn't feel much up to keeping their old rivalries and anyone who sincerely renounced the Dark Lord found their Dark Marks just falling off. Draco Malfoy was one such person as he hadn't truly wanted to follow the mad man in the first place.

It was now that Ronald Weasley came up with his next great idea for a mission. His mission: Get Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter together.

Yes.

He was sure Hermione would give him trouble if he told her and Ginny would most certainly cry, but Harry never showed the interest in his little sister the way he did Malfoy. Hell, minus a couple of kisses and a talk or two, those two weren't really around each other. Hermione and Harry knew each other more than Ginny and Harry, so it just made sense they wouldn't end up together.

Still, Harry was such a nice person and wouldn't just openly break Ginny's fangirl fantasies of him so he needed to split them up. This was going to be great. He wasn't necessarily Malfoy's biggest fan, but he thought those two would be an adorably happy couple and with a few potions and spells, they could have a family as well. If he was being honest with himself, Harry's rivalry with the slimy – err he'd have to change that thought – Slytherin was more passionate than anything else Harry had done. It would be a perfect relationship.

Besides the Ginny, he had the other problem of the two seemingly hating each other, but was it really hate? No, it was simply a misunderstanding and years of unresolved sexual tension. Isn't that what romance novels would portray it as? He would need to put them in situations that would call for them to work really close together. In fact, he had even managed and signed up for Potions with Harry and he knew Draco was taking the class. Ron figured he could use Snape's seeming hatred of Harry to his advantage.

As he closed his eyes to go to sleep, Ronald Weasley's mind was filled with thousands of ways to put Harry and Draco together. He figured Harry would probably be the bottom one so he would need to put some other ideas in his head as well. Draco might take a bit of work, but Ron was a pureblood wizard as well. He knew the traditions and he would more than happily "set" those two up using them for Draco's end. With that final thought, Ron drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 1 - Potions Disaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ron begins Phase 1 of his plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: None

Harry and Ron made it to breakfast with only 20 minutes left until classes. Ron had been more focused on his plans than food. He ate as fast as he could and then rushed off to Potions class making Harry and Hermione give him odd looks. After all, they shared the class with some of the Slytherins and Ron was definitely anti-Slytherin.

"Do you think Ron hit his head or something? I mean rushing off to our NEWT Potions class. I am happy I managed to tutor him enough so he could even take it, or maybe Dumbledore intervened, but either way… he seems happy?" Hermione said questioning the end of that sentence. It really didn't make sense.

Harry nodded slightly as they walked. "Yes, it is like he is planning something, but wouldn't that mean he would at least tell us. We have all been friends for years and I'm dating his sister. He usually tells me everything now, whether I want to hear it or not."

The brunette frowned as they made their way into class and took their seats. Ron was already sitting in his seat with his potions book on the desk and Hermione was beginning to think someone was impersonating her dearest friend and crush. There was no way in hell that Ron would ever be so excited by a class he referred to as bloody awful with their slimy git of a professor and "ferret face".

She studied Ron a bit more before deciding to see if he was an impostor under polyjuice potion. "Ron, how did you and Harry get to Hogwarts second year? Also, who is Moony?" she asked knowing that while the first question may seem easy, the second one was not.

"We got here in my dad's flying car and Moony is Remus Lupin." Ron said resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "Why?"

"Well… you are acting strange Ronald." Hermione stated as she only used his full first name when she was worried, annoyed, or thought something was seriously wrong.

Ron looked at her and quickly thought about his words before speaking. It wasn't something that he had done before now, but he was working on a bigger picture here. "Can't I just be excited that it is our last year and I am one step closer to being an auror?"

Hermione blinked. She supposed that was a very credible reason for Ron's excitement. It also proved that perhaps Ron was maturing in to a man she could definitely be proud of dating. A smile broke out on her face and she nodded before she faced the front.

Professor Snape walked in looking as though he was delivered some particularly bad news. This had Ron biting his bottom lip in order to stop himself from smiling. He was worried about being able to bait the professor into pairing them up but it seemed Snape was too mad about something to realize what he was doing.

"All of you were lucky enough to make it to this class and I do mean all of you." Snape said as he looked around the room. There were 20 students in total with six Gryffindors, seven Slytherins, five Ravenclaws, and two Hufflepuffs.

"We were lucky enough to make it here, but let's face it, the Gryffindors will pass because we are Gryffindors and your Slytherins won't even have to work on their potions to pass." Ron muttered loud enough to hear. He knew he would probably end up with quite a few detentions, but he could keep planning that way as he doubted Snape would fancy a nice long chat with him during it.

Snape's eyes narrowed in on Ron. "I assure Mr. Weasley, that no one will just be skating through this class!" the professor snapped. He had been asked by the headmaster to try and give a few less detentions this year, but it was already looking like he was going to go against that.

Ron was on alert but not noticeably as he ignored Hermione and Harry's concerned looks to keep going. "I was just thinking professor, that it doesn't matter with this class. We…" he said putting his arms around Hermione and Harry. "We are still going to get fantastic jobs for all of our war efforts even if we don't get perfect scores in this class. While your Slytherins are still going to be viewed as a bunch of slimy gits who can't work with anyone and should generally be distrusted. After all, pledging allegiance to Voldemort of one's own free will…." Ron didn't need to go any further as he could see Snape ready to explode for his arrogant attitude.

"You will have detention for the next three days Mr. Weasley. I expect you to be here by 9 pm sharp! As for your little rant about my Slytherins, I've now decided to pair you all up with someone else. We can't have you passing due to Ms. Granger again can we?" the Potions Master practically sneered with glee.

Ronald Weasley was ecstatic, but now he hoped Snape would put them into the pairs he was pushing for. If he could get Harry and Draco to have to work together, then working through their hatred should be a bit easier. He could even plan this in a few other classes and tell those teachers that he thought it would be good for unity after the war was over, though perhaps he should just make it one more class instead of two. Draco was good at Potions and Harry was good at Defense Against the Dark Arts. They could see each other's strengths and weaknesses in classes to begin building their relationship.

Ron heard Snape call out Hermione and Pansy to work together. Now that was an interesting pair. Ron liked Hermione a lot and Pansy was into… bloody hell. He had forgotten about Pansy during all his strategic planning. He would need to get her out of the picture but how? The red head glanced over at the two and saw Pansy's disgusted look at having to work with Hermione. Hmmm… perhaps he could lightly _suggest_ those two become friends or something.

His name was called and he was to work with Blaise Zabini. Not bad, he supposed. If he was someone to go both ways, he could definitely see himself trying for the admittedly good looking male. Now all Ron needed was for Snape to c-

"Harry Potter and Theodore Nott"

 _Bloody hell_. That was not how he planned this at all, but he supposed it could have gone worse. Maybe working with Nott would prove to Harry that he could work well with other Slytherins as well. Draco was paired with a random Hufflepuff which could teach him that working with people he despised wasn't that bad. Yes, Ron knew he could use this to his advantage if he changed his strategies a bit.

Or maybe he'd have a better chance getting them paired up in another class. There had to be some teacher who was thinking along the same brilliant lines that he was, or at least willing to put the two enemies on a project together. If that failed he needed to think of a new strategy. One way or another Draco and Harry were going to be an item before this year was out.


	3. Chapter 2 - Defense Success and Failure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters are OOC in some aspects or it wouldn't be fanfiction. :) Enjoy. As usual Don't Like Don't Read.
> 
> Warning: None

Potions had gone relatively fine and the next class was Charms which Ron didn't see as a good class for trying to get those two together. The last class of the day however was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Ideas were already swarming Ron's head with how to get them to work out their aggression against each other. It would be like muggle marriage counseling but with wands and dangerous spells that would almost kill someone. Oh well, who said muggles did anything the fun way.

The class filed into the room. Normally only people who chose careers in Defense had to take the class, but after the whole Voldemort fiasco, the ministry declared that the class was mandatory. Remus Lupin had been able to take the job back with the other teachers taking over during 'that time of the month'. Ron was aware that Remus knew of the rivalry between Harry and Draco which should mean that pairing them up for DADA in some capacity would be relatively easy. After all, learning about spells and dueling tricks from seeing two rivals face off against each other was an excellent way to learn.

The class started simply enough and then Ron got his wish.

"Would anyone like to volunteer to demonstrate a duel with the spells you have all learned in the past six years?" Professor Lupin asked with a kind smile.

Of course, Hermione shot her hand up first and Ron did everything in his power trying not to roll his eyes. As much as he adored his dear friend, she needed to settle down and not volunteer for everything. It would put a serious wrench in his plans if Lupin chose her and someone else to demonstrate the duel.

"Professor Lupin, I was thinking that perhaps Harry and Draco could demonstrate for us." Ron said, clearly ignoring the sneer from Malfoy since the other used his first name, the completely incredulous look from Harry, and the confused looks from his potions partner Blaise and other best friend Hermione.

"That is an interesting suggestion Ronald. May I ask why you have chosen it?" Professor Lupin asked with a rather curious expression on his own face.

Ron inwardly did a little dance as he continued speaking. "Those two have been rivals for years. I am sure that they each know a vast majority of spells and counter-spells, whether from family or Voldemort himself. It would be a fantastic lesson for all of us to watch them duel together." _and a perfect opportunity to let them work out a bit of that unresolved sexual tension… err… animosity towards each other,_ Ron thought as he looked at Professor Lupin to see if his reasoning would be accepted.

Remus blinked mulling over the possibility. It was true that both Harry and Draco had been affected by the war in some way before Hermione had found that spell which ended it quite effectively. Those two would have the best knowledge due to training from family, friends, and the like, but it could also get quite dangerous. Still, the ministry wanted them taught and prepared in case another Voldemort came into existence and it would make for a decent match he supposed.

"I do believe you would be correct, Ronald." Professor Lupin said with a smile. "Would Harry and Draco please come down here with me? Everyone else, please use the strongest shield charm that you know in case of a runaway hex. Now, do you two remember the slight bit of a dueling lesson from your second year?"

When both students nodded, he continued to speak. "Good. I believe you are all set. I trust both of your judgments on spells to use, but will add the rule of no unforgivable curses and no curses that would cause either of you to miss the rest of the school year due to the severity of them. Both Light and Dark spells are allowed to be used as long as they don't fall within the first two rules."

Once he was done both Harry and Draco moved to face each other giving the customary bow before a match.

"This shouldn't take too long." Draco said twirling his wand a little as he looked at Harry. Lupin was busy making sure that everyone had their shield charms up before they began.

Harry smirked. "Of course it won't. It'd be better if you just give up now Malfoy. We all know that you can't beat me."

Draco barely raised an eyebrow. "Over confident aren't we, Potter? Though I suppose hearing that I've had quite a bit of training wouldn't get through that thick Gryffindor skull of yours."

"Oh I heard it Malfoy, but I don't think you could pull it off." Harry said wand at the ready. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lupin send up the sparks so they could begin.

And begin they did…

Harry barely managed to move to the side of a hex that put a hole in the wall. He glared at Malfoy who seemed to be mockingly apologetic at the hex he sent and then sent one of his own that didn't hit Draco but shattered his shield charm. Draco's eyes narrowed as he began sending charms and hexes in the other's direction getting as good as he gave.

Ron was mentally cheering. Seriously, if this wasn't the middle of class then he would probably get up on a table and dance as if he had one too many shots of firewhiskey. His Potions' plan had been a flop but the DADA one worked almost perfectly. He would have to deal with his sister next and work on convincing her that she should break it off with Harry, but right now he was going to enjoy his small victory.

Too bad victory never lasts long.

Ron was so busy having a mind party at the fact that he got Harry and Draco to interact in class that his shield lowered due to his distraction. Therefore, Ron did not notice two stray hexes flying towards him causing him to be knocked to his feet with a massive headache and unable to see properly. He barely heard Professor Lupin calling for an end to the duel and instructing someone to carry him up to the hospital wing. Ron didn't recognize who was carrying him but he didn't mind at the moment because he had at least gotten them to duel.

A few hours later, Ron laid there with his eyes closed feeling noticeably better than he had when the curses had struck. There were voices around his bed and he wasn't sure what to make of them.

"Harry, I am telling you that something is very wrong with Ron. I mean he basically volunteered you to duel Malfoy, of all people!" Hermione exclaimed.

Harry sighed. "Well now I have to work with Malfoy in Defense Against the Dark Arts, unfortunately. At least, you get to work with someone from our own house. Then again I suppose I can tease Ron because he is stuck working with his Potions partner again."

Madam Pomfrey came in to tell them that they had to be a little quieter in which they both nodded to agree.

Ron, however, was smiling internally and fighting to keep the smile off of his face where they could see. He did it! Harry and Draco were partners for DADA and even though it came at the price of him going to the hospital wing, Ronald Weasley would count this as a success. Now all he had to do was get them together and keep them together by any means necessary. As he drifted back into sleep, he thought of his strategy for having Ginny question her relationship with Harry.


	4. Chapter 3 - Little Talks with Blaise and Ginny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters are OOC in some aspects or it wouldn't be fanfiction.
> 
> Warnings: No warnings unless you dislike people upset and then well... that happens.

Madam Pomfrey let him out just after he ate dinner in the hospital wing. Ron almost begged her to allow him to stay so that he could miss his first night of detention, but she saw no reason to let him skip it. Ron was admittedly not too happy about that aspect of it, but then again he remembered his success in DADA even if it came with the minor failure of getting himself hexed for not paying attention.

He entered the potions classroom and was immediately given a brush and soap in order for him to scrub cauldrons. Ron didn't even flinch or sigh at the punishment, but one would seriously think Snape would have thought of something new to torture students within detentions beyond scrubbing cauldrons and labeling. As he scrubbed the cauldron, he wondered how he would approach Ginny tomorrow.

The direct approach would be the best, but it could also lead to Ginny realizing he was up to something, such as breaking up her and Harry. Of course, he couldn't just go up to Ginny and say 'You and Harry are so wrong for each other. You should break up!' His sister would probably laugh and then double her efforts to stay with Harry. On the other hand, he could mix the direct approach with the less direct approach by coming at it like a concerned friend. He highly doubted that Hermione or Harry would have talked to Ginny about his seemingly odd behavior which would make it slightly easier either way this went.

He formulated his plan as he worked on the last few cauldrons. He was actually quite surprised that in his good, somewhat scheming mood that he was working so quickly and with good results. Ron could almost smile, but he was sure Snape would have a heart attack if someone was smiling while in his detention, and Ron couldn't help but let a small one appear on his face.

"What are you smiling at?" Snape asked narrowing his eyes. "I hope you are not plotting to get out of this detention before you are finished scrubbing those cauldrons."

"Not at all, professor." Ron said with his smile widening. He had just come up with a semi-perfect plan to get Ginny's mind working in the opposite direction.

Few things scared Professor Severus Snape. He had served not one but two masters and had lived to tell the tale thanks to someone almost as bright as he was at sixteen. However, this was something that scared him. A student was _happy_ while serving detention with him, and he had to wonder if the other was still affected by the hexes that he had been hit with earlier. Yes, that had to be it. No one in their right mind would actually _smile_ while being punished, unless Weasley was some kind of masochist.

Snape stopped those thoughts before they went any further. He had enough on his plate without having to worry about the sexual deviance's of his students. Still, it was a really disturbing thought and he could only imagine what that smile meant. "If you are finished with the cauldrons, then you may leave." he said wanting the smiling redhead out of his detention. "I also expect you not to drag your Potions' partner down to your level Weasley. I would hate for one of my Slytherins to fail because of a Gryffindor."

Ron just nodded. "I promise I won't mess up so much that he'd fail because of me." he said with another smile before leaving in case Snape decided to give him another detention for that. As he walked to the tower, he was stopped by Blaise who handed him a copy of his notes from DADA and Potions.

"It is for DADA. We are partners and I don't fancy failing because you got yourself hexed. I made a copy of our assignment as well as gave you my notes for potions. I have no idea if you can even read those notes you took in class, but I do not want to fail potions, alright?"

"Um… yeah sure. Thanks." Ron said with a bit of a smile. This was just an awesome day. He managed to get Harry and Draco to work together. Snape allowed him to go after just cleaning cauldrons and his Potions partner gave him fantastic notes so he wouldn't have to beg Hermione for the notes he missed while planning. Honestly, this must be what it feels like for a team to win the Quidditch World Cup.

The smile on Ron's face widened yet again and he realized he should stop before he scared off his Potions partner. It wouldn't do well if the other went talking about how he had lost his mind or something similar. He shifted the notes, he had to carry them better and managed to relax his face quite a bit, but his partner was still staring at him.

Blaise just stared a bit longer before shaking his head. That smile was similar to the ones he would share with only himself while he was planning something or figuring out a way for something to be to his advantage. It was a bit out of place on the most Gryffindor of them all. Even Potter and Granger showed some sort of Slytherin cunning, but Ronald Weasley was someone that was 100% pure Gryffindor. The whole thing was just off-putting. "Just study those notes alright? Lupin mentioned a project that he would inform of us more tomorrow and some of our notes for today would help us with it. Let's set up a time in class to meet up and discuss what our topic for the project will be."

Ron nodded and Blaise turned to walk back to the Slytherin dorms. "Oh and Weasley… as creepy as it is… you should smile more genuinely like that. It is creepy… but nice." he said and walked off.

If his eyebrows shot up any higher than they would be in his hair. Ron couldn't believe he was just complimented by his partner in class. He turned around and felt a bit of heat to his cheeks before he told himself that he needed to calm down. Ron supposed he could like guys, but he hadn't really thought about it nor did he have time to explore something like that. He had to concentrate on his talk with Ginny tomorrow. He made it to the common room and just shook his head 'no' when Hermione asked if he needed notes from today.

She seemed really concerned and tilted her head to the side. "Ron, are you okay? Is there something bothering you?" Her voice was dripping with concern and wonderment in each syllable. It almost sounded like she was worried, but also interested in studying him.

Ron just smiled. "Not at all, Hermione. I am having the best day ever!" he said chuckling a bit and then went up to the boys' dormitory. As he laid down to sleep, he went over the talk with Ginny and the compliment from Blaise.

_The Next Day_

The first time slot of the day happened to be a free period for him as Harry and Hermione were off taking other classes. Ron had only taken those he needed to be in the Auror field, but if this worked perhaps he should become a full-time matchmaker. After all, his strategies would almost be legendary after getting the two rivals together.

Walking out to the courtyard, he saw his sister sitting alone by the lake. It seemed she had a free period as well as the others in her year, and wanted to spend it outside alone for a bit. Ron steeled himself for the conversation that he was about to have with his sister. He had fine-tuned the conversation this morning making sure he had covered all avenues so he didn't accidentally reveal his plan.

"Hey Gin." Ron said as he walked over and sat next to her. "How come you are out here by yourself? Where are your friends at?" That was it Ronald, start the conversation off smoothly.

Ginny looked over at her brother and gave him a smile. "Oh they are all studying or something. I just wanted a few moments alone to relax and think about things. Even if the war ended, there are still some minor things that bother me about it. I'd be out here with Harry, but he is taking a class right now for some reason. It is strange. I thought he wanted to be an Auror and he'd take all the classes you were instead of extra ones."

If Ronald Weasley ever wanted Christmas to come early, this would be it. He put on a bit of a concerned brother look. "Well perhaps he just wanted to be more rounded in other subjects you know, Gin. It can't be easy to want to keep fighting."

"But… he's the Boy Who Lived… why wouldn't he want to keep fighting or push to be an Auror. He is really good at all the defensive spells that he uses." Ginny said in a more defensive manner than she would have liked.

Ron sighed in what had to be the most perfect manner for this conversation. "Ginny… I hate to ask you this question, but what do you know about Harry? Not Harry Potter the 'Boy Who Lived', but just Harry."

"Well he is good at defensive spells. He defeated Voldemort and mum absolutely adores him." Ginny said trying to think of more things to say. "I know he seems to like some desserts and lived with muggles."

A soft groan left Ron's lips at this point and he made sure it had been perfectly timed. "That is wonderful Gin, but what do you know about Harry? Do you know his likes, dislikes, and well you know… things as your big brother I would personally have to kick his ass for?"

Ginny worried her lip between her teeth as she thought. "He likes Quidditch and dislikes vegetables. As for that stuff… well…" she blushed at this moment. "We haven't done anything more than walk around together and share a few kisses."

"Is that a relationship?" Ron asked sounding incredulous. "I might need to have a chat with him about not showing you that much affection. I mean you deserve the best Gin and not some guy who is basically just there. If you want to have crazy, wild, freedom days without mum and dad finding out then you should be able to have them."

Ginny looked at the grass picking pieces of it. "Well I love Harry. I mean how could I not? I've been in love with him since before I came to Hogwarts and-"

"And you still don't know anything more about him than the Daily Prophet and what anyone who goes to school with him knows?" Ron asked noticing Ginny getting a bit more upset at what he was pointing out. It was hard knowing he was basically making his sister give up her dream, but the end game of getting Harry and Draco together was so much sweeter and they were better suited to each other anyway. However, he had to make Ginny doubt more. "Has he ever told you about living with the muggles? Or that he would like to take things to the next level with you since you've been dating for a little over a year now?"

"No."

"What about giving you more presents and courting you more in the open?"

"No."

"How about how you will communicate and stay together when we graduate?"

Ginny looked visibly upset. "No. Why are you asking all these things?! I mean… I don't…" she frowned and sighed. "It has to work. I've been dreaming of this forever."

"You were dreaming of settling for some guy who won't treat you like a proper princess?" Ron asked making sure to use the right wording to get her to think of a guy just doting on her and adding just a touch of sibling concern.

Ginny sighed and shook her head. "I won't break up with him at the moment, but I can at least try to see if he is willing to work on those things. If not, then I suppose I do need to leave him because you are right. I do deserve much more and better. I should know him better than anyone else." she said with a smile at Ron. "Thanks Ron. I'm going to head back in."

Ron gave her a smile and a nod before watching her go back into Hogwarts. Ginny had her doubts and would most likely want to work on them with Harry. It would be just awful if he managed to make it where they had less and less time to spend together to actually work on it. He also knew Harry wouldn't just talk to Ginny because there were things Harry was just waiting for the right person to talk about them with. Ron knew that person would be Draco and not Ginny, but he would celebrate his second success in two days. He was sure he'd end up failing again soon, but for now he could enjoy this. Ron laid back on the grass thinking about his DADA class later and never heard someone walking towards him.

"Now see… there is that smile again."


	5. Chapter 4 - A Slight Miscalculation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters are OOC in some aspects or it wouldn't be fanfiction. :)
> 
> Warnings: A few sweet moments and one crazy fangirl moment.

Ron looked up to see Blaise standing over him. He was curious to how long the Slytherin had been close to him, but no one was around when Ginny left. It was most likely that Blaise had come out there within the last five to ten minutes. An odd feeling found its way into the pit of Ron's stomach. He shouldn't have this reaction to Blaise's presence even after the strange compliment last night.

"Stalking me now?" Ron asked with a bit of a lazy smile. Another part of his strategy had fallen into place and he wasn't ready to give up the feeling of victory, but he still had to get more interaction between Harry and Draco. Maybe he should lock them in a closet….

"Hardly." Blaise said as he sat down next to Ron. Normally, he wouldn't do such a thing, but unfortunately they were partners and needed to work together. He was assessing whether or not he'd be doing all the work or if Ron would pitch in and if the work would be adequately done. "Still, you are out here smiling like a cat that got extra cream for breakfast. As I said last night, it is very off-putting. I want to say you are scheming something, but the other two parts of the Golden Trio seem to have no idea of it."

Ron snorted. "I am not planning anything really, but even if I was, why would Harry or Hermione need to be a part of it?" he asked looking at Blaise.

"Are you serious? You doing something completely on your own would not only be showing some odd, latent Slytherin traits, but isn't Granger usually the brains of the operations?" Blaise asked keeping his voice neutral though Ron had piqued his interest. Was the other planning something and what did it involve?

"Perhaps it was all just strategy to make others think I wasn't as smart as either of them." Ron said still lying on the grass. Just because Blaise came out here and sat next to him didn't mean that he had to suddenly sit up. He was sure that Blaise didn't want to get in trouble for hexing him and risk possible expulsion in his last year of school.

Blaise looked away thoughtfully. "I suppose that could be the case, but I think you would have slipped up by now. There is no way for anyone not in the Slytherin house to hold up such a strong pretense."

Ron chuckled a bit. "So you say. After all, how exactly _would_ you know Zabini? The Slytherin house is not known for its warm and fuzzy attitude towards students from other houses. I am typically around Harry and/or Hermione most of the time. You rarely ever see me on my own without others from the Gryffindor house. They have made their names more prominent than mine. Consider this. My reputation is that I am a short-tempered hothead who doesn't care much about school and has issues with your wonderful band of snakes."

Blaise frowned a bit. "So what you are telling me is that you are nothing like that?"

"What I am telling you is that you see what you want to see." Ron answered with another smile. "Why is it that hard to believe? I am part of the so-called Golden Trio and we have done many things that grown wizards shied away from, like facing off against Death Eaters and the Dark Lord before this year. It really isn't that much of a stretch to realize I could have been hiding how I really think or feel."

There was silence. Neither one of them said anything as they mulled over this new information. Ron was still enjoying his peaceful victory and Blaise was processing what he just learned. A quick look around the place showed that they were outside alone.

"If what you are telling me is true…" Blaise started before he turned and bent down a bit in hopes of getting Ron to confess due to being uncomfortable and to try and catch a lie in his eyes. A Slytherin would use any means necessary to obtain information. "What are you scheming?"

Ron leaned up until he was only an inch and a half from Blaise's face. "Wouldn't you love to know?" he said keeping eye contact as their breath was mingling. "Time for class." Ron moved and got up going off to their DADA class. Snape had to teach some remedial classes and decided the seventh years could be moved to another two hours during the week.

He felt a bit strange as he walked through the halls because he truly had been very close to kissing his class partner. What on earth was he thinking? Then again, why did he want to repeat such an action? It felt fun and a bit like an adrenaline rush. He had already admitted to himself that the other was rather attractive, but it wasn't part of his strategy to get Harry and Draco together.

Ron toyed with the idea of possibly asking Blaise to help him with it later on. While they had that rather _close_ moment just now, he didn't know the other well enough to want to think of anything more. They could use their study time for both plotting and studying should he invite the other to help him with his strategies. In fact, the closeness that could be developed between him and Blaise as friends, at least, could encourage Harry and Draco to admit their secret feelings for one another.

He could just imagine it now. Those two would be all happy and everyone else might need a few moments to see his fantastic vision as wonderful, but it would provide for not only the happiness of his best friend, but also the wonderfulness of his planning coming together. The excitement of the year would be complete and by graduation, Ron would be dancing with success. He was pretty sure the Great Hall tables could survive his victory dance. He would even come up with a full routine for it.

In the meantime, he had to think of a way to get another interaction between Harry and Draco. They were partners for this class, but that didn't mean they would work together. For all he knew, they would each research part of the project and then owl each other notes on how it should be completed never talking to one another for more than five or ten minutes.

Maybe he could get them to sit together in…. class….

As Ron walked into the room, he saw that the seating arrangement had changed. Everyone was now sitting next to their Defense Against the Dark Arts partner. Ron's eyes lit up momentarily before they went back to normal. If Remus wasn't so old, he'd kiss him right now because this was absolutely perfect.

He found his seat behind the two rivals and thankfully the seats were a bit more towards the back of the classroom. This means there were quite a few Slytherins and Gryffindors so it wouldn't look as obvious that a spell came from him should he choose to cast one. The class started and Remus began explaining that the project would involve an oral presentation as well as a report that both parties had to work on. The oral presentation was to include a demonstration of the curse, creature, and/or counter curse used.

It was advised that they get started on the project as soon as possible and to take advantage of unused classrooms, the grounds, and more to practice their oral presentations to make sure the spells were performed perfectly. Lupin stated that he would be taking away points for improperly performed spells and incomplete presentations. He expected to see actual cooperation on the project even between the inter-house groups. Lupin walked back to his desk and waved his wand using a light spell to give each student a list of pre-approved topics. They were allowed to suggest their own topics as long as they ran the topics past him first.

Ron was looking over the list but secretly glanced at Harry and Draco. The two rivals seemed to be in a nice little debate over which project to do. He glanced at his partner and noticed Blaise was checking off topics and searching for them in the book to judge how much research they would need to do outside of it for each one. Ron's attention went back to the soon to be couple and he quietly whispered a compulsion spell that would make Harry go along with anything Draco wanted to do for the project.

The slight frown on Harry's face shined when the other had agreed to Draco's topic choice of Dark and Light spells being interchangeable. Ron would pretend that glare only held the undying respect Harry had for Draco's brilliant choice of topics regardless of the spell that was cast. He glanced over to see Blaise packing up his things.

"Come on. Let's go to the library and start getting research done. I figured we can do the project on dealing with several different creatures and the spells to deter and kill them." Blaise said as he packed up his things.

Ron nodded and packed up all of his things as well. Different creatures might involve a bit of transfiguration for the project in order to show everything properly and a lot of spell practice if they were going to show how to get rid of the more dangerous ones. He noticed Harry and Draco getting up to leave as well and decided they could all walk together.

"Hey Harry… Wait up!" Ron called out as he reached his best friend. "What are you guys doing for your project?"

Harry looked at Ron with an almost pouty look. _Draco would love to kiss those lips_ , Ron thought as he waited patiently for Harry to speak. "We are going to do our project on dark and light spells being interchangeable. I don't truly think they can be, but Malfoy insists."

"Of course I insist, Potter. They can easily be interchangeable and used for either the dark or light in a negative way. If you would actually take the time to use what little brain you have then you would see this." Draco said rolling his eyes.

"I would _see_ that you are trying to claim that light spells that are used mainly for protection are also dark and can also be used to truly hurt people. If that was the case, why hasn't there been a dark wizard who has used nothing but light spells in order to take over? I am pretty sure Voldemort used mainly dark spells to take control of everyone." Harry countered as they all left the classroom.

Draco took a deep breath even though it seemed he was just being quiet a moment. "That is not how people think. If you aren't seeing the logic behind using both light and dark spells in the opposite way, then why do you expect that the damn Dark Lord saw it that way? Seriously Potter, it is a very simple concept that you will realize when we actually begin to research the spells." Draco said seriously wanting to bang his head off of something.

Ron was biting the inside of his lip not to smile as those two talked more. Wonderful! Draco could show Harry that these things were interchangeable and could be used for both purposes and then Harry would basically fall for Malfoy's intelligence. Draco would see that Harry was a bit stubborn, but easy to teach and he would fall in love with Harry's inability to bend to his very will. A perfectly opposite match made in heaven.

As he was lost in his thoughts, he accidentally bumped into Harry, which in turn caused Harry to lose his footing a bit and tumble slightly into Draco. This was an unplanned part of the strategy at this stage, but as he saw Harry basically cling to Malfoy's robes instinctually to stop himself from falling, he had to admit it was perfect. The two just looked at each other for a moment as if they were not sure who would speak first and if Ron was a fangirl he'd be squealing right now. Ok. He would mentally squeal at the picturesque moment.

Unfortunately, Harry straightened up blushing in embarrassment and apologized. Draco just seemed annoyed by the whole thing and they continued walking together to the library albeit talking quieter than before so people wouldn't overhear their conversation. Ron followed wondering how he could make this better when…

"Interesting." Blaise said from beside him in a low whisper. He had forgotten Blaise was there at the moment somewhere around the time, Harry and Draco were asking him to be their best man in his head. "I think your little scheme involves them. Actually I am about 95% sure that it does."

Ron opened his mouth to say something before Blaise cut him off.

"No worries, Weasley. I don't plan to tell them. I am merely curious as to why them, but I suppose that is a question for another time." he said continuing into the library.

Ron wasn't sure what to think but he may need to figure out a way to get Zabini off his trail if the other seemed like he was going to betray his plan. As he was about to follow Harry, Draco, and Blaise into the library, Ginny came up to him.

"Hey Ron… could I talk to you for a minute?" Ginny asked nervously fiddling with her thumbs.

Ron wondered what was wrong. Did Harry and she actually do more than she let on? He sincerely hoped that didn't happen. His plans included basically serving Harry up to Draco on the virginal silver platter by the end of this and Harry not being a virgin really threw the proverbial wrench into that plan. "Sure Ginny… what is it?"

"Well I was… well I was thinking about what you said… and" Ginny looked around as she shifted on her feet. "I realized that Harry may not be opening up because we are just dating and so I decided to fix that problem."

"How did you plan to fix that problem?" Ron asked slowly not sure he wanted the answer. He had prepared for her to try and talk to Harry and him to push her away. He had even prepared for her to fight for Harry, but this didn't sound much like the ways he thought she would.

Ginny smiled brightly. "I'm going to ask Harry to marry me!"

_Bloody Hell._


	6. Chapter 5 - Broken Dreams and Trial Runs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters are OOC in some aspects or it wouldn't be fanfiction. :) This is mostly told from Ron's p.o.v. and there will be more p.o.v.'s of Hermione, Blaise, Harry and Draco after Harry and Draco's first kiss which is coming up soon enough.
> 
> Warnings: None for this chapter.

If there was ever a reason for a huge monumental freak-out then it would be now. How on earth could Ginny come to the conclusion that the way to fix her relationship was to get married? Ron was seriously considering if Ginny had been dropped on her head when she was a child. However, there was something more important to deal with at this point in time.

Ginny was not following along with his strategy. He secretly wondered if Ginny was conspiring with Snape to destroy all his lovely plans for having Harry scream Draco's name from the top of the Astronomy tower. His mind was in overdrive as he just stared at his sister with what he hoped was a very confused and surprised look.

What could he do to get Ginny off of this path? If he did nothing, then everything he had been working hard on for all of the last two to three days would blow up faster than Neville blew up a potion. Ron's mind was in overdrive as he decided talking was the best path out of it to try and understand her motivations and then turn them around on her in some way.

"Gin…" Ron started as if he was approaching a wild animal or something.

"Ron! Come in the library. I need help carrying the two idiots up to the hospital wing." Blaise said to him interrupting Ron's talk with Ginny.

Ron frowned a bit and yet felt relieved at the same time. He could kiss Blaise right now and not give a damn what people would say about it. A brief moment from outside flashed in his mind and he bit the inside of his cheek as not to blush. "What happened?" he asked.

The urge to smirk had never been so hard to suppress. Blaise could easily see the relieved look in Ron's eyes that he could delay this conversation with his sister. "I am not sure. All I saw was a curse aimed at Draco, but before I could do anything Potter, of course, jumped in front of him and now they are both unconscious."

"No! Why would Harry save Malfoy? It makes no sense." Ginny said not too happy about this. Harry never concentrated enough on her when he was focused on saving someone or fixated on something.

Blaise finally acknowledged her with a brief glance. "Don't believe me then see for yourself Weasley. However, Ron, we should probably move them. I told Madam Pince that I was coming out here to get help carrying them up there." he said shifting his attention back to Ron.

Ron nodded and gave Ginny an apologetic look before going into the library. Sure enough, Harry and Draco were passed out with Harry partially over Draco. Ron smiled inwardly. This wouldn't have worked better if he had put Harry on top of Draco himself. _Actually…_ Ron's thoughts mildly trailed off as he used a spell to gather all their materials and put them in their bags. He handed Draco's bag to Blaise and he took Harry's bag. Ron was leaning down to pick up his unconscious best friend off of Draco when he heard a groan or was it a scream of frustration. He looked back to see it was Ginny who had made the noise. The youngest Weasley had come into the library to actually see if Blaise had been lying or not.

Ron bit the inside of his lip to keep from smirking at the _horrible_ expression on his sister's face at seeing Harry on top of Draco. She should just get used to this now and save herself the trouble later on. Ron would prefer not to have to continuously think up strategies to get his sister away from Harry, but if that is what it came down to then he would do it. The easier way to do this would be for her to take their earlier conversation and what she just saw to heart and date someone else. On the other hand, he might have to set her up with someone else in order for his plans to come to fruition.

Turning back towards the unconscious Harry, Ron picked him up and watched as Blaise picked up Draco. He could see where people might think that Blaise and Draco would be a good couple. Blaise and Draco complimented each other beautifully and –

_"Wouldn't you love to know?" he said keeping eye contact as their breath was mingling._

Ron blushed at the thought of what he did earlier and almost dropped Harry. This really wasn't helping his train of thought at the moment and he knew he had to get up to the hospital wing as soon as possible. It was time to regroup and come up with a new strategy. Perhaps there was some way to use their unconsciousness to his advantage.

The walk up to the hospital contained a few accidental, almost droppings of one Harry Potter, a strange feeling that he was being watched by Blaise, and the idea of asking Fred and George if they had any useful inventions that mimicked mistletoe but didn't look like one. Who on earth would fall in a mistletoe trap in the middle of September? It was simply not going to happen that way.

Or he could research how those particular traps are made and modify it to work towards his advantage. It would probably take a bit of time to perfect the spell on an object, but if he could make sure it activated around both Harry and Draco, they could get stuck and forced to kiss. Oh yes. It might take a bit of time, but in between that they would be working on their respective projects with their partners, and he could get Draco to possibly notice something about Harry.

His mind wandered to the tripping incident earlier. Harry could be more swayed towards Draco with a few proper words, but Draco was another story. The Slytherin was cunning, rich, pureblood, and based on the slightly lessening fights between the two, more mature than he had been before. The kiss idea would at least get the thoughts of lust following, but dammit they needed to be together longer than a quick romp in the streets.

The spread in the Daily Prophet about their engagement party would be the hottest topic of gossip for ages. He would know the truth, but he could only imagine Harry tempting Draco with some _private_ time so that Draco wouldn't use unforgivable curses on the entire Wizarding population. After that, Harry would arrive to the party, obviously fashionably late, in green and silver, while holding on to Draco's arm. Harry would be shy, of course, as he never really liked getting all of that attention and Draco would be sporting the trademark Malfoy smirk letting everyone know he just shagged Harry Potter.

Oh he just couldn't wait for that!

The hospital wing was empty when they arrived and Madam Pomfrey instructed them to set the two on the beds. A quick diagnostic spell was cast on both of them and showed they had been put to sleep but she couldn't undo the spell. It was mysterious and she thought it best to go and consult professor Dumbledore through the floo in her office as opposed to leaving the hospital wing in case someone else came in.

"It is a shame that she won't be able to undo that spell." Blaise said tapping his wand to the side of his forehead.

Ron looked over at him. They had been allowed to stay with the two in case one of them woke up from the spell on their own. "You cast it? Why?" Ron asked giving the other his full attention.

"Now that is the question isn't it Weasley?" Blaise asked with a slow smile.

"So you are back to calling me Weasley then, Zabini?" Ron asked him with an eyebrow raised.

Blaise leaned forward a bit with his elbows resting on his legs and his chin in his hands. "I could call you Ron if you would prefer, but you might start blushing again."

Ron controlled the urge to let his cheeks heat up as much as they wanted to. Why on earth was he affected by Blaise's presence? Ok. No. He had a pretty good idea why he _might_ be and so he pushed that aside for the moment. "Alright then. Why did you do it?" he asked.

"You first Ron. I already told you what I suspected earlier on." Blaise said noticing the twitch Ron was holding back not to blush.

Ron looked at him and then glanced at both Harry and Draco's sleeping forms. "You want to know why these two? I think they would make a fantastic couple, but they need a few strong pushes in the right direction. I debated telling you about this earlier for fear that your _loyalties_ might inform Draco and all my strategies wouldn't work anymore. However, you just said you hexed them, so why?"

"I figured that might be it. I am not sure I completely see why you would want to put them together, but I can see the amusement to be gained from it. They could be the strongest wizarding couple alive or they'll kill each other after a week of dating. Two weeks if we managed to stop them from casting the nastiest hexes they can come up with." Blaise said before he paused to make sure Madam Pomfrey wasn't in ear shot.

"The reason I hexed them was because this plan intrigues me. I must admit that this year is rather uneventful in Slytherin, with the Dark Lord gone and those who wanted to be Death Eaters unable to return to the school for fear they would try to kill Potter. The fact that someone who is considered to be so good is attempting to do something so bad to the point they tried to make their own sister rethink her relationship is… impressive and very interesting. I am curious as to how far you will go for your goal Weasley and I am offering to help."

Ron watched Blaise's eyes and body movements. In chess, you could sometimes tell how a person was going to move their pieces based on the look in their eyes and the shifts in their movement. Blaise was calmer and more relaxed as if all he did was move a simple pawn. It wouldn't be a bad thing to have an in to the Slytherin mindset considering he wasn't sure how to get Draco to notice Harry.

"You can help me on a trial basis. I am still not sure I can trust you, Blaise." Ron said smirking lightly at the slight widening of the other's eyes. "Oh yes, two can play the name game and you might find that I am quite good at it. Nevertheless, do you have any plans as far as these two go? I have one, but it will take a bit of time."

Blaise didn't know if he was more intrigued by the plan or by Ron himself with that first statement, but he chose to focus on the subject at hand. After all, it wouldn't take Madam Pomfrey much longer and so he had to wake those two up. "We could do a slightly cliché point until your next plan comes to fruition. They don't know who tried to _attack_ Draco and so we _begrudgingly_ offer to all study together in one of the abandoned classrooms after checking books out in the library. If they are curious, then we just explain that you aren't sure you could trust a Slytherin and I say that I'm not going to leave Draco alone with two-thirds of the Golden Trio."

Ron stared and stared and stared at him. "Yes you are definitely right about it being completely cliché, but it would also keep him from spending too much time with Ginny in case she decides she wants to get married again. We will go with that for now until I am able to come up with something in the interim. As a Slytherin, you may have more access to particular things than I do. I need you to find me the list of enchantments on the mistletoe traps people have. I need to modify it for the next part of the plan. Are you able to do that?"

The Slytherin nodded. "Of course, I am sure my mother has done it once or twice in her school years. I will ask her about it. Now… to wake these two up…" Blaise cast a spell that woke both of them up albeit a bit groggy.

"What the hell happened?" Harry asked groaning as he sat up. "Oh! Is Malfoy ok? I think someone was trying to curse him or something."

Ron could have both cheered and rolled his eyes at that question. Blaise's plan would probably work better than he thought even if it was just temporary. They probably wouldn't even need to do much for it to work. Blaise caught his look and faintly smirked before focusing on Draco.

"I'm fine Potter. Did you hex me or something?" Draco said rubbing his temples.

Potter glared. "If I wanted to hex you Malfoy, I wouldn't be in the hospital with you."

"Depends on if I got off a good shot or not." Draco answered immediately after. "I swear I am going to strangle whoever did this if it wasn't you."

A frown appeared on Potter's face. "The war is over. People shouldn't be trying to attack you for no reason. If you had wanted to be a Death Eater, then the mark would still be on your arm and you wouldn't have been able to return to school."

Draco sighed. "I suppose that would be true. It is going to be ridiculously hard to work on our project if people keep trying to hex me all the time."

Blaise chose this moment to speak up. "I have an idea. Why don't we all just check out what we need and then practice and study in an abandoned classroom? It could be separated to make sure that Potter and Weasley don't goof off the whole damn time and leave us to do all the work."

Ron did roll his eyes at this point. "Or we can make sure the damn Slytherins don't make us fail. I can't imagine they'd be better than us in Defense, Harry. You kick Malfoy's butt all the time."

"Watch it Weasley." Draco said with a sneer. "Last I remember one of the hexes during a duel with Potter and I ended up with you in the hospital wing. I'm obviously not bad at it, but I do feel bad for Blaise having you as a partner."

Ron and Draco glared at each other. Draco was wondering how fast he could hex Weasley before Potter jumped in. Ron, on the other hand, was thinking how much Harry would love to stare into Draco's gray eyes all day. Harry just sighed and closed his eyes trying to remember if he saw anyone who would have had something against Draco. Blaise, however, found himself not liking the way that Ron kept staring into Draco's eyes like that.

_What on earth is going on with me? I couldn't actually like Ron, could I?_


	7. Chapter 6 - Sisters, Trinkets, and Requirements

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters are OOC in some aspects or it wouldn't be fanfiction. :) Enjoy. As usual - Don't Like Don't Read!
> 
> Warnings: This is a slightly more serious chapter, but I needed it to set something else up. There is a hug. A lot more Harry and Draco next chapter. *winks* Also this starts out as Blaise's p.o.v. and then back to Ron's and a glimpse of Harry's.

It had been almost a week since that day in the hospital wing. He had made sure to give Ron all the information he could find on those mistletoe charms and they had started testing out some of the attempts the redhead had made. There was a fail-safe in all of them during the practice phase that apparently Ron would get rid of for the final test project. They were studying on their own while Potter was secretly hiding outside of one of Draco's classes. Apparently, the Gryffindor could not be convinced by anyone that Draco wasn't in some sort of danger or maybe Ron was on to something about Potter when it came to Draco.

Still, Potter's obsession with making sure no one was trying to attack Draco made it much easier for him to test these trinkets with Ron and keep the Weaselette away from Potter to begin with. The girl had gotten it into her head that even if Harry was obsessed with helping someone, then she just needed to be patient and wait for the right time to ask Harry to marry her. He would never understand why the girl had thought that to be the best course of action, but Ron said he was wondering if his sister went crazy.

Everything came back to his crazy class partner who had the world's most impossible plan and was making it succeed. He had perhaps been too quick to judge the Gryffindor all those years ago considering how much he had learned in just this week. Ron was calmer and much more collected than he would have ever thought. By this point, he would have given up on making these trinkets work in the way that the other was trying to. It really would be much easier to lock them in a closet like they had joked about when working on their project and this plan one day.

Ron was still a bit skeptical about his want to be involved, but Blaise couldn't think of anything better to do this year. What exactly would the headmaster do? Expel them for trying to get their best friends laid and unable to walk straight the next morning? He highly doubted that would happen though he could imagine Snape trying to do just that. The thought was actually quite amusing and he let out a bit of a laugh at that by accident.

"What's so funny?" Ron asked as he walked over to Blaise. He had a small bag of the various random trinkets they had transfigured.

"I'm just imagining Snape trying to get us expelled because you want Draco to screw Potter in the middle of the Great Hall." Blaise said with a light smile. Why did this damn Gryffindor always manage to get even the lightest of smiles out of him when they were alone?

Ron looked at Blaise a moment and returned the smile. "I can imagine that as well. Snape might actually scream if he knew I thought they should hook up on his desk." A light chuckle left Ron's lips before he placed the bag on the old desk on the table. "Well I have finally finished another set of the trinkets. I should, in theory, easily be able to change the requirements to make them disappear when the action is completed. Want to help me test them out?"

"What exactly will they have us do?" Blaise asked curiously. It wasn't like him to be this curious, but he didn't think being caught in a trap would make it easier to catch someone else in it.

Ron was rummaging through the bag and then pulled out four of the trinkets. "They are all enchanted to do different things, but nothing too bad. It truly wouldn't help my planning if we were caught in a compromising position now would it? Speaking of which…"

Ron started to cast a few spells to make the room visible only to those who were really looking for it. The spells were light enough that most people wouldn't notice them, but it would give him the time he needed to see if these trinkets were ready for the next part of his strategy. None of the current trinkets were too bad, and he could only hope that Blaise didn't react too negatively to the requirements.

"Ok. I have made it so not too many people will recognize the room should they pass it. Rumor circulation will only lead to another failed strategy and after all the work I have done, I am not looking forward to possibly not being able to use it.", he said and picket up a three-leaf clover trinket activating it and then standing close to Blaise.

The little trinket flew up above them and encased them in this blue circle. Ron walked around the space noting that it was roughly his full arm span in diameter. It wouldn't be very easy to walk in the space without touching, but it could be done. Next, Ron began tapping the light blue walls that had arisen from the circle. It didn't seem to budge at all which was perfect! They would have to do whatever the trinket told them to do or they wouldn't be allowed to leave.

He turned to Blaise with an almost evil amount of glee on his face before realizing that Blaise might think he is crazy. "It won't budge. That is what I was testing. I can make it a bit stronger just in case, but for testing purposes it will be just fine. We will test the sturdiness in all four of the trials, but for now the requirement."

_If you wish to leave this circle, I wish to see an honest handshake between friends._

Ron looked at Blaise and stuck out his hand. "We have to shake hands to make it go away. This isn't the one I planned on using for a bit stronger of a test but to make sure that it destructs properly."

Blaise looked at Ron curiously a moment and then just shook his hand. What would the other trinkets have them do? He looked up at the three-leaf clover and it spun for a minute before disappearing and releasing them from the circle. "I'm impressed. I didn't think you'd be able to get it to work like that or had even planned to make sure that there could be no trace of it."

Ron looked at him as he picked up the crescent moon trinket. "You really should give me more credit or am I wrong in assuming that you've learned something from our little talks?"

"I suppose I have but perhaps my mind is debating if I should believe all of that is true." Blaise said returning the look.

"I see. Well for the next test I am going to need you to stand outside of the circle and cast spells at the trinket. I have armed them with different enchantments both light and dark to prevent them from being removed in the event someone refuses the action. If this works, then it shouldn't come down until the action is completed." Ron said and then moved away from Blaise and activated the trinket.

_If you wish to leave this circle, then I wish for you to remove your shirt._

Blaise looked a little shocked at the request, but then relaxed. Ron probably didn't care if Blaise saw him without his shirt considering that most of the Quidditch players tended to shower after the games. He watched Ron simply refusing to remove his shirt and looking at him to start the casting that needed to be done.

And cast he did…

It was actually a bit frustrating for the Slytherin when none of his spells would take the trinket down. He had even used a couple of dark spells that wouldn't be considered too dangerous for students to be using. No matter what, the trinket wouldn't come down. With each spell thrown at it, the wall seemed to flash lightly but overall did not budge. The impressed feeling from earlier had actually grown even though it did help that Ron was the younger brother of the infamous Weasley twins.

Ron, for his part, seemed to smile. "It isn't budging and I know those were some powerful spells you sent at it. I suppose I shall just have to do what the trinket wants now, won't I?" His tone was playful and held within it a certain giddiness and satisfaction at managing to get the trinket to work in this aspect. "It seems we may only need to do the third test because the fourth test had just been another one of these except I would have been casting the spells. I was worried that you wouldn't cast at the strength needed to test them honestly. After all, if I was wrong then you would be working on our projects by yourself for a while."

Ron started slowly unbuttoning his school robe before letting it slide to the floor. He seemed to be in no hurry to remove his shirt in order to be released from the trinket's shield and had lowered his eyes to be able to watch Blaise's reactions without being so open about it.

TIME!

The word screamed through Blaise's mind like a hundred fangirls at a concert. Time could explain everything that was happening right now. His partner only wanted to test the amount of time in case the trinket's power was going to fade. What other reason would there be for Ron to be taking his dear sweet time and slowly stripping his robes and eventually his shirt off? Oh sweet Merlin's balls, he was starting to think like Weasley and focusing way too much on the way that shirt was coming off. Blaise was beginning to think that Draco didn't stand a chance in the grand scheme of things and began to list why his best friend would be lucky to have Potter as a life partner.

Ron had been watching Blaise the entire time. He hadn't been sure if Blaise would be disgusted by things concerning another male. The other had offered to help him and even came up with the world's most cliché plan to get Harry spending more time around Draco, but there was always the doubt that the moment the plan sunk into his mind, he'd back out of it. However, he was also curious about Blaise's reaction. The other seemed minutely shocked, then relaxed, and finally contemplative. He supposed he would get more of a glimpse into Blaise's thoughts for the last trinket. Finally, he removed his shirt and the trinket disappeared.

"That trinket had worked much better than I had thought. Since the defenses and stubbornness of the trinket have been lightly shown, we are going to try the loophole test next." Ron put his shirt back on, but not his robes as he picked up the last trinket. This one was in the shape of a star. As with the first trinket test, he went back over to Blaise and then activated it causing the now familiar blue circle to surround them.

_If you wish to leave this circle, I wish to see two bodies pressed together in a hug._

Ron noticed the slight stiffness of Blaise's figure, but nothing he was overly worried about. "We are going to try different hugs before we give it what it wants. Once again, if I am correct in the way I modified that mistletoe charm, then it shouldn't budge until it gets the proper hug. Let's try just patting each other's shoulders, then a light hug without our bodies touching, partial hug with only one side of us touching, and then a full hug. Ok?"

Once he received the nod from his Potions partner, Ron moved forward lightly patting Blaise on the shoulder as he did a very stiff type of hug. The trinket didn't disappear and a quick push of magic showed that the walls had not budged. He tried the next hug which was very light with his hands on Blaise's shoulders and Blaise's hands barely touching his back. The trinket and walls still didn't budge one inch. They tried the next hug which basically had just their shoulders and an arm touching only to get the same result.

"Everything seems to be working just fine so far. Now we give the trinket what it wants and it should disappear. I have heard many Slytherins don't like to be too close to someone, but please bear with me here for the test." Ron said in both an information gathering and diplomatic way.

Blaise shook his head. "It really just depends on if we feel we can trust the other person enough to allow such close contact. Acts are cheapened if you are just going to do them to or with everything and everyone."

Ron nodded and conceded on that point. He had to get Draco to trust Harry and that is where he'd definitely need more of Blaise's help. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Blaise's neck and pressed close to the other. Blaise had his arms wrapped around Ron's waist and pulled him close as the trinket was asking. It seemed to debate whether or not it was going away and Ron couldn't help but feel his cheeks heating up again. They were pressed against each other in a hug that shouldn't be anywhere near as nice as it felt. He glanced up to see the trinket disappear and then felt how Blaise's arms slid from around his body.

FOCUS!

That word ran through Ron's head as he pulled back and smiled. "The tests were a success. We can work on that part of the plan right before the weekend. It would be wrong not to use the Hogwarts rumor squads to their full potential!" he said excitedly. Oh, it was going to be one hell of a kiss Harry and Draco would have to get out of his little trinket trap. The fact that he had to be near Blaise to activate two of the trinkets made it better. All he would have to do is activate it and slip it on to Harry. The moment Harry was within a good vicinity of Draco, the trinket would activate trapping them and only them in a blue circle until they kissed the way the trinket wanted.

If only he had realized how stubborn Ginny could really be…

After cleaning up the text and getting all their books together, they were headed to Defense, only to notice a slight commotion up ahead. As they approached, they noticed there was a small barrier put up. Ron noticed it would probably take a few moments to take down depending on what… was….

Ron looked to see Ginny standing there with both Harry and Draco on the other side of the barrier. This could possibly work to his advantage. Seriously, Harry would see that his sister was out of her mind and that would make Draco a much more interesting prospect. The harder task was playing both sides of this. Harry would need his best friend to talk to and Ginny would want him to be upset about Harry turning her down. Even Hermione might wonder why he wasn't defending his sister and going against Harry, but he had hoped he put in her mind that he was maturing and not that he hadn't given two craps about house feuds since fourth or fifth year. There would be too much attention drawn to him then and someone might realize he is scheming. He had been lucky to have only truly attracted Blaise's attention and no one else's.

His mind was a mess with strategies depending on how this would go. What if Harry actually agreed with this craziness? He would have to then break up his sister's engagement. The idea of finding someone for his sister was becoming an increasing possibility. Ron had to stop this before Ginny asked Harry to marry her and opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped by a discrete hand on his arm.

"Leave this one to Draco." Blaise whispered. "It will give Potter a chance to see Draco in a new light."

"Are you sure?" Ron whispered back. He was really worried that his best friend would just agree as to not hurt Ginny's feelings. Sure they have all grown up quite a bit, but like with any normal guy, he hated to see girls cry.

Blaise just gave Ron a quick glance and a slight smile. "Trust me."

As much as he didn't want to let this get too far, he decided to test if he could fully trust Blaise in this moment. He should have trusted him before this with all the work Blaise had put into getting him that spell list, but some habits die hard. Of course, his mistrust of Blaise could have something to do with how he seemed to blush around the other at times, but he wouldn't admit that if he didn't have to. The words _Leave this one to Draco_ partially worried him, but if Draco knew of the plan, he was sure Blaise would have spilled by now. Therefore, it must be a quirk of Draco's that he might bear witness to right now in order to form the appropriate strategy.

"Harry…. I know we don't talk much and I think I know why." Ginny started off with a bit of a smile at the other as she pulled out a nice looking transfigured ring and showed it to him. "I think it is because we aren't close enough. Harry, will you marry me?"

To say that Harry was shocked would be an understatement. He cared for Ginny deeply, but it was much too soon to be thinking about marriage! Hell, she wasn't even old enough yet for him to marry! A quick glance showed him all these people that were starting to gather. It wasn't a large crowd, but he could only imagine it would get larger and soon if he didn't say something. "I don't think that…" he began not sure of what to say. He didn't want to hurt her feelings but who the hell just decided to ask someone to marry them in the middle of a hallway?!

"But… you love me right, Harry?" Ginny asked with her voice filled with more confusion than honest hurt. It seemed she was not sure of his feelings or not quite aware of hers.

Harry couldn't hear the difference in her tone and was about to just agree and maybe they could talk later and with less people around, but he wasn't the one to speak up.

"Perhaps it would be best to talk about this later. However, a marriage should be because two people are undoubtedly in love or arranged depending on the customs followed. If you are worried he is keeping things from you Weasley, then marrying him will only make that fear multiply tenfold and you will never be able to trust he is being honest with you. Also, when you asked if he loved you, the tone was more confused than hurt as if you expected him to say no. I am not one to give people advice most of the time, but if you are going to ask someone to marry you then make sure that you are both feeling something strong and unwavering. It will save you a lot of heartbreak in the future." Draco said with a slightly over exaggerated sigh at the end of his little speech.

It wasn't that Draco wanted to help Potter or the Weasley girl out with their marriage problems, but there were traditions to be followed. He didn't mind if people wanted to throw traditions for their wedding out the window, but typically getting married because you wanted your partner to talk to you was just insane. The talking should be done well before marriage was brought into the picture. Perhaps his parents would have had a slightly easier time with theirs instead of running into a few surprises as they grew together.

Ginny blinked at Draco and at first she was going to retort with something awful, but he really hadn't given her any bad advice or truly insulted her. In fact, he just told her to think about her decision and made her realize that she actually didn't feel hurt when asking Harry if he loved her. In fact, she was just confused as to why he didn't. Wouldn't it have hurt if she was really upset by the possibility that he wasn't? Isn't this something similar to what Ron was trying to tell her outside almost a week ago?

"I… you're right. Forget about the proposal Harry. I need some time to think and um… thanks Malfoy." Ginny said with a light smile as she left.

Draco said nothing, but nodded once in her direction. "Come on Potter, I don't want Professor Lupin docking points because we're late." The signature Malfoy mask was back in place, but he seemed a bit weary.

Harry couldn't help but nod and follow him. He was shocked at Malfoy's behavior towards Ginny and would have thought the other might have been much meaner. In fact, when she had proposed Harry had thought Malfoy would make some sort of joke at his and/or her expense, but he hadn't. No. He had given her sound advice and that was all. There was no complaining about how he gave advice to a Weasley or talk of that proving he was better than others. Harry didn't think Malfoy changed overnight, but he had to wonder if the advice came from the fact that Malfoy truly valued marriage and not as something to get ahead in life. The thought actually made Harry smile a little. "Thank you… Draco."

Draco stopped and looked at Harry a moment and then nodded a bit to him. "No problem. Marriage is just something I think should be done for the right reasons and those reasons were all wrong." Nothing more was said between the two as they entered the classroom.

Ron blinked, more confused than he had been before. The entire situation had been easily diffused without so much as a whisper of a rumor spreading around. There was no animosity between Malfoy and his sister as it happened and she had actually taken his advice. How would Draco know to give advice like that? He had to admit, Blaise was right about this particular incident and it did seem as though Harry looked at Draco a bit differently afterwards, though he couldn't hear what they were saying. Ron looked at Blaise questioningly.

_Did Blaise tell Draco about his plan?_


	8. Chapter 7 - Convincing and Kissing Partners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters are OOC in some aspects or it wouldn't be fanfiction. :) 
> 
> Warnings: There is a kiss in this chapter towards the end. That's all.

Ron stared at Blaise waiting for an answer. Of course, it may have helped if he had actually voiced the question, but he couldn't. For some reason, Ron felt a bit more betrayed the longer Blaise seemed to be searching for an answer or perhaps there was another reason he couldn't say anything. Was Draco already engaged to someone? Would he need to extend his plan to include the breaking up of an engagement anyway?

Blaise looked at Ron, feeling strangely upset that the other thought he would betray him so easily. He wasn't faithfully working on this project and their assignments just to up and ruin them by telling Draco what they were doing. "Really Ron? You just…" Blaise blew out an exaggerated puff of air. "I guess we will both just have to serve detention then."

"What do you me- AH!" Ron cried out, lightly surprised as he was taken to an empty classroom and Blaise warded the door closed and made sure that no one could hear what was being said.

"I can't believe you think I told Draco about the plan. Don't even say you weren't thinking that, because you were. I told Draco nothing and what you just saw was a glimpse into Draco. He usually doesn't care to say anything like that or speak about his views on particular subjects. He prefers just to keep his most personal thoughts to himself because it wouldn't benefit him in our house." Blaise said leaning against one of the walls.

Ron was sitting up on a table as he looked at Blaise. "I suppose I could understand that. I mean I don't quite show most of my critical thinking side in my own house for similar reasons. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have thought you told Draco about it because honestly, when would you have had time? You've spent most of your free time with me under the guise of 'making sure you keep up your grade in Potions'. How did Draco know to give that advice then?"

"Pansy…" Blaise said and then pushed off the wall going over to sit by Ron. "She was head over heels crazy for Draco. I won't say love because I don't think she knows Draco as much as she thinks she does. I once asked her if she knew his favorite color…"

"Which is?" Ron asked figuring he might as well get some information as well since they skipped class together.

Blaise looked at him and smirked. "Now look whose trying to be a sexy Slytherin." he said with a light chuckle at Ron's bright red blush. "His favorite colors are crimson and silver. The crimson is probably a slightly darker color than the Gryffindor red. Anyway, I asked her if she knew and she said no, but that it didn't matter. Her heart was set on marrying Draco and becoming Lady Malfoy. She felt that Draco might tell her more or be even happier with her if they were married."

"She and Ginny could have definitely been best friends with those mindsets." Ron said, wondering if anyone would ever unlock the secret of the female mind. Apparently, it was a very scary and highly irrational place. How on earth could the solution to not knowing a guy well enough be to marry them?

"Oh yes they could have been friends, at least with the mindset that Pansy had at the time. So Pansy had this _fantastic_ idea to set up this highly romantic date in order to propose. She had gone over the proposal in her mind and never once did she question if she loved him or if he loved her. She managed to get everyone to clear the common room as she knew that Draco was getting back late that evening. Before you start speculating, he likes to go out and relax with no distractions and think about his life." Blaise said before shifting a bit and stretching before looking at Ron again.

"I was keeping an eye out in case Draco needed a quick escape like any best friend would do. Draco comes back and Pansy is waiting there with a soft smile, wearing her best dress robes, and some odd candle set up to give the room 'feeling' as she called it. The first thing she does is use her wand to play this soft music that would have put Professor Binns to sleep before going over and proposing to Draco. He was stunned to say the least and I thought he'd just agree to marry her or something."

"However, that isn't what happened at all. He asked her why she wanted to get married. Sounding confused, Pansy asked him if he loved her and then stated that they would be closer and could talk more. She figured Draco wanted everything that his parents did. A perfectly respectable arranged marriage in which they may or may not fall in love much later. Pansy thought he wanted to be a political leader who had a wife he would just show off at home. The war had changed a lot of things for Draco, or at least he chooses to say it was the war."

"If you ask me, he just grew up and matured like many people did after the conflict. So he gave Pansy similar advice stating that if he hadn't talked to her much up to that moment, then marrying her would only make the situation worse. She would always second guess him and wonder where on earth he was. He said that if marriage was the only way to bring them closer, then they would be divorced not long after and may have unfortunately had a child in that dysfunction. Lastly, he mentioned that she sounded confused about his feelings but not hurt. When that happens, he stated that usually the person is more in love with the idea of being with their obsession than actually being in love with the person. Do you understand it now?" Blaise asked looking at Ron. He didn't want to be pushed away as the red-head was still very intriguing to him, but he didn't want to constantly feel as though he wasn't trusted either.

Ron sat there for a moment just thinking about the story and the information that he learned from Blaise about Draco. Blaise had intentionally told him more than he needed to know about the situation as a way for him to realize he could trust the Slytherin. Blaise could have simply told him that Draco gave the same message to Pansy when she tried to propose and that would have been the end of it. After all, it was such a plausible explanation that Ron would not have needed to analyze it even further. Instead, he spent time analyzing the words aware of the fact that Blaise had stopped watching him to lie partially on the desk. They had spent a lot of time together this past week or so and Ron wouldn't be surprised at all if Blaise knew exactly what he was doing right now. It would only make sense that a person spends time analyzing new information.

If everything happened exactly the way Blaise stated, and he had no other reason to believe any differently, then simply getting them to interact wouldn't be enough for his plan. It wasn't as if he believed that one kiss or hug or action would have them declaring their undying love for one another, but trying to speed up the relationship too quickly would do more damage than good. Based on the information, Draco didn't believe in rushing into a relationship without a strong foundation like love. The whole thing was actually quite admirable and Ron felt more confident that putting Draco with Harry was the best choice.

Another piece of information included that Draco liked to be alone to get his thoughts in order. He didn't just talk with people in Slytherin and his maturity had been well proven when he talked his sister out of her ill-timed proposal. This wasn't the Draco he was used to, but he would be the Draco that was best for Harry. He'd ask himself why he started calling Malfoy by his first name, but that didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

"This is definitely going to take a bit of re-strategizing. Not that I had many thoughts of them instantly declaring an attraction to each other and falling into wedded bliss, living in Malfoy Manor, and having like six kids or something, but I am going to have to think some of the more pressing interactions out a bit more. It is more the spacing of when they happen, then the acts happening. I was working on getting potential feelings of lust to arise, but I think I should add contemplation to that. It needs to sit with them and interactions of the talking variety like today need to become a bit more common. Based on what you just told me though, Draco is not one to share his thoughts more often than not. Harry won't do it either unless he is prompted." Ron said staring at the floor with a pensive expression on his face.

Blaise sat up a bit. "Continue on with the trinket plan. Right now, that needs to be at the forefront of everything. The thought still needs to be planted and you can thank your sister for planting the thought of possible friendship and completely moving past rivalries. From what I saw, Harry seems intrigued by Draco's ease in handling the situation. Draco may be feeling as if there is someone else who shares a bit of what he is going through. Overall, it is a win-win situation from today and the kiss will plant the thought of more."

Ron closed his eyes a moment and imagined this as a game of wizard's chess against an all-time champion. He had to make another move after the kiss that wouldn't scare the two away from one another, but closer together. He had to - "I got it. We have to make them fight again after the kiss. Nothing large, but playing to different sides of their project may produce the required results. If that works, then it should cause them both to be annoyed with one another and what happens when people get annoyed with one another?"

"All of our planning goes up in flames?" Blaise asked not quite sure where Ron was going with this one. First, he wanted them to love one another and now he wanted them annoyed by one another. What sense did that make?

Ron rolled his eyes. "No dear partner of mine, it makes them start thinking about every last little detail of the person that annoyed them. Draco will either talk to you or go off and think on his own about everything. Harry, on the other hand, will probably rant my ear off in hopes that I will 'set him straight' or tell him not to worry about it. The idea will be planted but the annoyance will stop them from going too fast. It's perfect."

"Did I ever tell you that you are a few cards short of a whole deck and yet somehow brilliant?" Blaise asked sitting up and looking highly amused. He could admit the plan had a lot of merit to it since people tended to focus on what annoyed them or upset them.

Ron smiled at Blaise and placed a hand on his shoulder. "No, but I love hearing it." he said grinning before he grabbed his bag. "I think we should go see about detention tonight. It figures that I just get out of detention with Snape and you get me in trouble all over again."

Blaise laughed. "Oh you know you are enjoying this." he said undoing the spells on the door as they went to go see Professor Lupin.

Surprisingly, they didn't get detentions as apparently both Harry and Draco stated that they went to comfort Ginny about her proposal being declined. Lupin stated that it was a very mature thing for them to do and that it promoted house unity with them working together. Needless to say, they both were shocked by their teacher's reaction even though their reactions didn't show. They left in silence and went on with the rest of their day.

_The Next Day_

It was time. Unfortunately, Potions class would be missed, but it was for a good cause. This was the day where Harry and Draco would finally kiss! Ron had barely been able to sleep due to his excitement about today. If he had a calendar, then he would be marking this day down as a day of celebration. He had the heart shaped trinket in his bag already and planned to activate it much later as he sat next to Harry at breakfast.

He compared the feeling to finding out he just made seeker for his favorite Quidditch team or even becoming Minister of Magic. Ron double checked to make sure that he had everything he needed for Potions class, just in case, and then met Harry and Hermione down in the common room. It finally hit him that he hadn't accounted for Hermione possibly seeing what he slipped into Harry's bag and warning Harry about it before they left for class. If only…

The fates had to be shining on him today, or they just wanted to see Draco kiss Harry as much as he did. Ginny had come up to Hermione asking if they could talk. Ron could almost guarantee that it was in some way, shape, or form about Harry. He was once again thanking every force out there for getting rid of Hermione for him that he had forgotten he was holding the trinket to slip into Harry's bag. A nice push forward in which he accidentally dropped the trinket in Harry's bag was very welcomed. He turned to see who had pushed him and had caught the eyes of Blaise. The bit of a smile on his face was more than he had wanted to show and promptly looked in another direction.

He had to focus on the plan and deal with his strangely odd and growing attraction to Blaise later. The meal couldn't go fast enough and just as people were filing out to go to different classes, he activated the charm. As partners in two classes, he tended to walk to them with Blaise.

Everyone had gotten over the strangeness of it all at some point during the last week, and just went about their day. Hermione had left earlier to go have more 'girl-talk' with Ginny and so there were few left in the Great Hall when the charm trapped Harry and Draco in its shield.

"What on earth?" Harry asked as he pushed on the blue walls of the shield looking for a weakness.

Draco blinked and tapped at the walls with his wand. There was not a lot of space in this circle, but enough that they could move around brushing the corners of each other's shoulders as they did. "It is rather odd."

_If you wish to leave this circle, I wish to see a kiss as shared by lovers._

A frown appeared on Draco's face as he looked up at the trinket. "It seems we were caught in some sort of prank."

"Of course we were." Harry grumbled as he pushed again on the walls with his magic. "It seems to be rather decent spell work. I don't quite remember something like this in all the training I've had."

"Indeed, and neither do I." Draco stated as he began searching for weaknesses once more. If he could find no weakness, then it seemed that he was just going to have to kiss Potter. It could be worse. He could be stuck in here with someone who'd try to use it as a means of a proposal or pushing him into a relationship before he even got to know the person.

Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape were still in the Great Hall and had come over to see the strange occurrence. Each teacher took their time assessing and casting spells at the trinket in hopes of getting it down. Of course, Ron and Blaise were both whispering charms to make sure the trinket didn't collapse under so much power.

"I have never seen something quite like it either. It looks like a simple mistletoe charm, but this one seems to need its requirements filled first." Dumbledore stated as he cast another spell at the trinket.

"Surely, you are not suggesting Headmaster, that the only way for them to escape this is to kiss one another." McGonagall said. It wasn't that she was against those types of relationships, but she didn't think that students should be forced into anything.

Professor Snape had not said a thing and kept casting spells at the heart trinket. It was frustrating that no matter what he used, the trinket didn't come down at all. The next spell he cast was a mere diagnostic spell that would determine the spells that were used. A frown appeared on his face as the spell did its work. "It would seem that we will have to come back and deal with this in a bit. There is a lot of surprisingly complex spell work here for such a simple prank. I also can't seem to find whose magical signature is on this trinket, but I am sure I can analyze it more once we get it down."

Dumbledore nodded slightly and then looked at Ron and Blaise. "Well it seems they will be trapped here for a little while. I am entrusting you two to make sure that no one comes in here. We shall be back once we have had time to analyze these spells and prepared counter curses for each of them." With those words, the teachers left the four of them in the Great Hall.

Everything was quiet for fifteen minutes.

"This, Potter, is a perfect example of Light spells being used for Dark." Draco said after leaning against part of the blue wall.

Harry blinked. "We are trapped in an assortment of spells and you somehow manage to talk about school projects?" How on earth could Draco be thinking of their project at a time like this? They were literally stuck with one another until someone could undo the spells on that weird heart trinket above them.

Draco just shrugged and went back to waiting. There wasn't enough room for either one of them to sit down and so they were stuck standing in here unless they did as the trinket asked. No one was in here except for their two best friends and they could just hex them both until it was never mentioned.

"Ok. Screw this." Harry said and gave Draco a quick peck on the lips. "There… we kissed."

_I said I wished to see a kiss between lovers, not a kiss you would give a friend or grandparent._

"How does that damn thing even know how we kissed?" Harry said more frustrated than he had been a few moments ago. This was ridiculous. He had cast the spell that defeated the Dark Lord only to be stuck in a prank with his admittedly not-that-bad DADA partner.

Another fifteen minutes later…

Draco was going to lose it if he had to deal with the constant fidgeting any longer. The war had changed him and allowed him to truly contemplate his life. The things he had valued were nothing more than mere annoyances and childish when it came to the big picture. Blood purity was something he had once held so dear to his heart, but after thinking about it logically, it made no sense. After a while, the purebloods would either run into problems with the constant intermixing or they would die out. You can't keep a flourishing society if only ten families are having children. There would be no challenge or marriages that could fully last beyond the sharing of wealth. The purebloods would probably go somewhere else to satisfy their desires as opposed to having a faithful relationship with the one they loved.

If the war taught him anything, it would be that life is short and fragile. Why spend the time marrying someone and having children, if you were never going to spend time together in a more relaxed way? Relationships and marriages should be built on strong foundations. It didn't have to start out that way, since friendship was the best, but it should have that foundation if things went further than that.

"Alright. I give up. I will give the stupid thing what it wants. There is no point in sitting here all day waiting for the teachers when we could just kiss. The only ones here are Blaise and Weasley and they are probably so into each other that they won't notice." Draco said to Harry.

"Hey! We are not!" Both Blaise and Ron had answered the taunt from Draco before looking everywhere but each other to try and prove their point.

Harry looked at Draco. "Oh no. You are not kissing me." he said moving away as much as he could when Draco came a bit closer. "I-I have a girlfriend you know."

"Yes, a girlfriend that wanted to marry you because you will not talk to her. The same girlfriend who tried to fix everything by proposing when she doesn't even think you love her. Am I right?" Draco said to him and Harry stopped moving.

There was nothing in Draco's words that amounted to anything negative. He just pointed out all of the issues that were quite apparent in his relationship with Ginny. It wasn't even that he didn't love Ginny, but they had known each other forever. There was just not a relationship spark there and they already in a way felt like family. Harry just wasn't sure what to make of what he was feeling. He had thought maybe they needed to find a way to spark up their relationship, but he wasn't the type to sleep with someone he wasn't sure about. Everything was just confusing and after yesterday, it seemed Draco knew more about the whole relationship process or at least valued it. If they became friends, he could ask Draco about it and perhaps get more advice than he got from Ron or Hermione.

"I still don't think this is a good idea." Harry said glaring at Draco.

Draco sighed. "And I still don't see how we have any other choice unless you want to be stuck in here for lunch." he said and then watched Harry's reactions. The other seemed as if he'd rather do anything but that. "I am not planning to run around school screaming 'I just kissed Harry Potter'. As fun as that would have been for me, perhaps in fourth year, it would not be fun for me now. It would just seem completely juvenile in the long run. This is our seventh year and right now we are preparing for our futures. Why waste time complaining about who kissed who when there is so much to be done?"

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but realized that there was nothing more to say to it. Draco was right. They were all preparing for their futures and trying to figure out what they wanted to do with their lives. In fifth year, Harry had wanted to be an Auror, but now he didn't care to see so much fighting and death. He wanted to do something else, like maybe, open a jewelry shop or perhaps find a way to own a nice amusement park for wizards. He wanted to do something that brought joy to other people's lives instead of a constant reminder of what doesn't.

He leaned back against the shield a bit and whispered, "OK."

Draco took a deep breath and pressed lightly against Harry. The trinket said it wanted a kiss as shared by lovers and he would give it that. He doubted the trinket would realize they were not in love, but it seemed to know a good kiss from a bad kiss. His hand gently brushed Harry's cheek as it slid back and found its place on the back of Harry's neck. The other hand settled on the small of Harry's back.

Harry had moved his arms and slid them up and around Draco's neck. If they had to do this, then they might as well do it right. He didn't fancy staying in the trinket because the damn thing thought they missed something. He looked into Draco's eyes and they stared at each other for a moment and then his eyes slowly slid closed.

Draco looked at Harry for just a few moments more before he lowered his head and kissed the slightly shorter male beneath him. Harry could have been taller, but the angle at which he was leaning might have had something to do with it. The kiss was sweet and chaste for at least a minute until they realized the shield was still there. This caused Draco to press a bit harder into the kiss and Harry to gasp underneath Draco's lips.

It was an opening and Draco took it. His tongue slowly slipped into Harry's mouth almost teasingly before meeting the slightly shy tongue of Harry's. The shield was flickering, but both of them had yet to notice it. Draco explored Harry's mouth and then invited Harry to do the same with his tongue. They both found themselves enjoying the light tastes of pumpkin juice from their breakfasts since they allowed themselves to enjoy the kiss just a bit. Finally, the shield flickered and disappeared completely, but the kiss didn't stop in a rush. They slowly pulled back and gave each other a soft smile before looking up and noticing the trinket disappeared.

Ron was ecstatic. There had never been a more perfectly executed plan in all of Hogwarts. Both he and Blaise had minor bits of conversation as they watched the two trapped ones. For a moment, Ron thought he might actually have to use the fail safe and let them out of the trap, but they had worked out their differences enough to leave the trinket. It was almost sad that the next part of the plan involved them being annoyed with one another, but it had to be done. Thankfully, only the screaming, squealing 'fangirl' in Ron's mind fainted from that hot display while Blaise was thinking….

_I wonder…._


	9. Chapter 8 - Minor Setbacks and Forward Pushes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters are OOC in some aspects or it wouldn't be fanfiction. :) Enjoy.
> 
> Warnings: Almost kissing? Fluffiness.

Ron watched Harry and Draco while he went over his plan to make them annoyed with one another. The way the two were both currently looking at each other was almost one of mutual respect and happiness. Annoying the two about each other might work better if they sided with the other one on the project. In the simplest terms, Ron would side with Draco and Blaise would side with Harry. However, there could be unforeseen circumstances that arise from that and they would need to be prepared for any shifts that happened because of this part of the plan.

He glanced over at Blaise while it seemed that Harry and Draco were talking a bit about something. Perhaps they were debating if they should become friends or something about their project since they were all meeting up in an unused classroom to work on them later. Ron caught Blaise's gaze and it was almost as if they had an entire unspoken conversation before Blaise gave him a small smile. Ron couldn't help but return the smile even as he bit down lightly on his bottom lip to try and stop it from taking over his face.

Ron saw as Blaise's eyes flickered down to his lips before flickering back up to his eyes. A blush rose on Ron's cheeks and he turned to try and avoid Blaise seeing his smile as he gathered all of his and Harry's things together. There was no point to sitting in the Great Hall forever now that those two had released themselves from the trinket. Oh and he was totally trying to avoid looking at Blaise at the moment.

"Ron! Hey Ron! Are you still with me?" Harry asked and Ron blinked surprised that he had forgotten about his surroundings.

Ron blinked and nodded. "Yeah sorry I was just thinking about things." he said as he handed Harry his stuff that he had picked up for him. "Where did the other two go?"

Harry took his bag and smiled before shaking his head. "Apparently Blaise had to go grab something to work on the project with you and get his book for Herbology later. Draco decided to go as well to get a book that he had his mother send from home to help us with our project." Harry said handing Ron a scroll. "He asked me to hand that to you because he didn't want to accidentally leave it in the dungeons. It looks like stuff for your project."

 _Something for the project?,_ Ron thought to himself as he took the notebook. _Blaise usually keeps everything on him and gives me a copy. We haven't discussed anything new yet._

Curiously, Ron opened the scroll to see one simple message on the front page. He assumed that Blaise had charmed it to only be read by him just in case Harry had decided to take a peek at what was inside of it. The message simply read:

_Now see… why did you try to hide that smile from me? You should know better than that by now._

The redheaded Gryffindor simply shook his head and smiled quite aware that Harry was paying attention to his reaction. He also knew how to play off his reaction in more ways than one as they walked out of the Great Hall and to their usual meeting point.

"Why are you smiling? I didn't think notes would be that amusing." Harry said almost suspiciously.

Ron looked at him slightly amused. "Oh. I just find it amusing that he thinks I know less about DADA than he does. Seriously, I followed you on quite a few adventures and lived with Fred and George most of my life. Those things basically force one to learn DADA at the earliest age possible."

Harry laughed at that. "Fair enough. I would probably find that highly amusing if someone said that to me as well."

"Exactly! Though I wonder where all your DADA training went earlier. According to Snape, some of those spells were light spells being used for nefarious purposes. I suppose that is what your partner means; that light spells could be used for something bad. I never thought someone would use light spells in such a way." Ron said thoughtfully. Harry knew that Ron wanted to be an Auror and so Ron was using this as yet another advantage.

A sigh came from Harry as he walked into the usual meeting place. Neither Blaise nor Draco had shown up yet and it was just as well that they hadn't. "I suppose I could see how some light spells could be used for the Dark Arts, but then how are you supposed to be able to tell if someone used them for the Dark Arts on purpose? I don't want to concede Draco's point on this because…"

"So he's Draco now?" Ron asked Harry with what he hoped was a bit of a surprised and skeptical look. He knew very well that tests to verify someone was telling the truth wouldn't suddenly be gone from the ministry. In fact, it would be best to perhaps create a spell that reveals a person's intentions. There were way too many people who may have been in the wrong path of a stray spell and ended up injured in some capacity.

The glare that Harry gave him was one that made Ron quite happy. It meant that Harry had thought about the kiss that he just shared and that it had affected at least how he thought of Draco just a bit. The idea of them being together was definitely successful on this end. He hoped that Blaise had as much luck and if he did… well… the thought caused Ron to smile a little.

"Oh just shut up Ron. You didn't get trapped in a prank that you had to kiss your way out of." Harry said glaring at his best friend.

"It didn't seem like you hated the kiss." Ron pointed out knowing just which buttons to push to keep Harry's mind on the subject a bit longer.

Harry's eyes narrowed even further. "You know what. I should find some way to make you have to kiss Blaise!"

"What about me?" Blaise asked as he walked into the room. Both Draco and he had heard his name, but they had been too busy talking to notice any other part of the semi-shouted sentence. He would have to ask Ron about it and report his progress with Draco. It wasn't a success, but it hadn't been a complete failure. Once he realized that he wouldn't be able to get Draco too annoyed just yet, he switched to indirectly talking about the prank which had done wonders.

"Nothing.", Harry said with a bit of an annoyed tone. "Draco, I have the list of spells I was thinking we could cover for the presentation."

Draco nodded. "I have a few ideas of what we can add to it in order to demonstrate the spells. Shall we split the room up into two again?"

"It would be best to not get them caught up in the crossfire or focused on watching our project. I know a decent spell that will keep this in one room, but seemingly put us behind a soundproof wall that cannot be seen through." Harry said and focused on putting up the spell. It produced a densely, smoky black wall that had an almost door sized opening where the smoke met the wall of the classroom.

Draco went over to it and stepped over to the other side. He began talking about nothing in particular and then casting spells loudly in order to transfigure the mannequins that were needed for his idea. Once he was finished, he stepped back through the makeshift door. "Did anyone hear anything that I did? I didn't hear anything in here."

"No." came the chorus of three voices before Harry grabbed his things and disappeared on the other side of the smoky wall with Draco so they could work a bit more on their presentation.

Ron and Blaise went over to one of the tables and cleaned it off with a couple of spells. They took out both their Potions and DADA work since they had two projects, and started taking notes on the various properties of the potion they would be modifying first. After a couple minutes, in which Ron was sure the other two were engrossed in their project, he turned his body partially towards Blaise. "How did things go with Draco?"

Blaise wrote down a note on his parchment about one of the plants they were using before sighing. "Draco's new sense of maturity makes it really hard to get him annoyed with anything. I managed to get him slightly annoyed with me by mentioning how I thought that Potter had a point with the light spells. I gave him reasoning why I thought that light spells couldn't be used for the Dark Arts and of course he was a bit frustrated and spent a good portion explaining to me how wrong that viewpoint was. I listened, even though I understand both of their points, and once I was assured he was done with his explanation, I commented on him calling Potter by his first name. Admittedly, it caused a rather interesting reaction from Draco."

"Oh?" Ron asked curiously as he wrote down another note that he saw on the page of his Potions book.

"Yes. In fact, he just looked at me and said 'If I want to call Potter by his first name, then I will. After all, I just had my tongue down his throat and if that isn't reason to use someone's first name then I don't know what is.' I was just about to answer him when I heard Potter or well Harry I suppose, say my name. Speaking of which, what was all that about?" Blaise asked Ron.

Ron shook his head. "It was nothing. Don't worry about it." he said staring at his quill as he dipped it back into the ink.

Blaise stopped himself from frowning. "Keeping secrets from me again, Ron? I mean he did say my name, don't I deserve to know."

"You really don't want to know." Ron said trying to avoid what Harry had said. He knew Blaise was fine with Harry and Draco, but with the suggestion of them? He wasn't sure.

"Try me." Blaise said noticing the light twitches of Ron's hand. It was a bit surprising that he noticed all the little ticks the other had after only spending the last week or two with him. This particular one meant that Ron was hiding something.

Ron took a deep breath and set his quill in the inkwell before propping an elbow up on the desk and leaning against his hand. "I'm not trying to hide anything from you Blaise. I was merely thinking it was best to avoid the subject and besides, we know how I can't seem to hide things from you anyway." he said softly. "What Harry said, when you heard your name, was that maybe he should get you to kiss me."

"Oh? Is that all?" Blaise asked turned more towards Ron. His voice was a tad bit lower as if he expected the other two to come around the corner at any moment.

Ron leaned a bit closer to Blaise dropping his voice as well. "Does there really need to be anything else?" he asked in an almost whisper.

Blaise found that whisper quite alluring even though the full thought startled him a bit. It wasn't enough to make him drop Ron's gaze or for them to stop leaning closer to one another. Their hearts were beating a bit faster and their breathing was heavier. _So close_ was the thought that entered both of their minds as their lips were only seconds away from touching.

"Well I suppose I can see your point about the _diffindo_ spell. If someone was accidentally hit by it then it could be a recipe for disaster." Harry's voice came through the doorway separating the rooms meaning the others were about to walk over to their side. It was almost time for the next class and so they were stopping their work to have time to get to them.

Ron and Blaise had broken from their almost kiss the moment they heard Harry's voice. Harry had come through the door a mere second later with Draco right behind him. Ron looked up at Harry with a smile as he was putting his books and things back into his bag. Blaise was doing the same thing and it didn't look like the two had been any closer than they were now. The two were ignored as Harry and Draco talked out another time to meet.

"Are we meeting after dinner, Draco?" Harry asked as he slipped his list back into his bag.

Draco put the copy of the list of spells they had agreed on so far, into his bag. "It would probably be best. Once we can decide on all of the light spells to use, then we can work on deciding which dark spells to use as well."

Harry smiled a bit. "I would say we give ourselves two or three more days to work on the light spells. Since we are taking notes for the paper part of the project, we can practice more spells on the mannequins or do practice trials to see if the result is always the same. We can also add to it by manipulating the amount of power and showing it at various levels."

"That… is actually a fantastic idea for our project Harry." Draco said. He could admit to being impressed by the fact that Harry thought that part of it out. It would work well for them to go beyond the general requirements of the project and give a truly informative presentation minus the basics. It made Draco slightly curious to know if there was more to Harry than the other was fond of showing. Thinking about it though, Draco couldn't truly be surprised. When had Harry truly had time to show anything more with Voldemort after him?

"Thank you. I will take a few notes before we meet up again." Harry said as he waited for Ron to join him at the door. They both had to go to dueling class next. The headmaster had the seventh years of each house teaching some of the younger years a few things they had learned. It had something to do with him believing that it might be easier on the students or something. The class had one or two teachers as chaperones to make sure things didn't go overboard and it helped the younger ones feel more important in their respective houses.

Harry was quite happy that Draco took his suggestion though. It was great to have his ideas listened to in a project that he feared was going to be nothing but them fighting all the time. Draco was almost a mystery to him. The other seemed to not only have matured, but truly and honestly put a lot of work into his studies. Partnering up with the other had allowed him to see the Slytherin in a different light. Of course, kissing Draco had allowed him to see yet another side of Draco as well, but he would ignore that for now.

He was still with Ginny and while he questioned the relationship, he didn't think that meant he should just jump teams. Harry truly cared for Ginny, but if she kept trying stunts like she done already, then it had to end. What could he say to her though? What would everyone else say when he stated that he didn't want to get married and wasn't sure he wanted to be with her? Ron would probably kill him or something, even though both he and Ginny never did anything together. Ron might as well have been planning his marriage to Ginny the moment he met them as a way to make them truly brothers or something. He also didn't want Ginny to be faced with a lot of bad attention for his decision, but they had to talk about this. It just wasn't the way a relationship would feel….

…and Draco is a damn good kisser.

One kiss didn't mean he was going to do anything more. It actually made him want to become friends with Draco though. He was worried during their project presentation that Draco would have made some comment about the kiss, but he had been the perfect gentleman about it. He simply said that it was a kiss and while it shouldn't be treated as an everyday occurrence, it could be treated as something they did to help each other.

The explanation didn't make Harry upset or worried. Instead, it had made him thankful for the new change in Draco. The rest of the time was spent on the project. A few jokes had been shared between them about the different spells and the mannequins that were created, but most of the time had been researching through a book Draco had brought and testing out the spells. They wanted reactionary spells that had physical effects and that is why it was taking so long for the list. Still, it had been a pretty decent session and he glanced at Ron hoping the other would hurry up.

Ron's mind was spinning and focused on his – was this second or third – almost kiss with his Potions partner. What was it about Blaise that seemed to make his carefully laid strategies want to fall apart at his feet? It was bad enough, based on the amicable talking going on, that they had failed in making Harry and Draco annoyed with each other. The kiss was still working to the effect that it needed to at least and now he needed a new strategy to push them apart a bit. He said goodbye to Blaise as Harry said goodbye to Draco and they were all off to their next classes.

_The Great Hall – Dinner_

Harry had gone over to Draco before they entered the Great Hall and handed him the notes he had taken. If Draco finished earlier or something, then he would have time to look over Harry's notes and make whatever corrections he felt were necessary before they started working more. The dueling session had gone over pretty well and a few of the younger Gryffindors were quite happy to learn some of the techniques.

Ron had been plotting the entire time during the dueling class. He figured that instead of annoying the two right away, he should lightly push them to becoming friends. The friendship would mean they would fall into a state of comfortableness with one another as acquaintances and then he would do something to annoy them. Playing on Harry's fame or Draco's status would be a surefire way to do this. He might have to try and convince another of their admirers to present themselves in a way that disrupts the project or something of a similar nation. Ron was sure he knew enough pureblood customs and about Harry to find ample disruptions that would affect their tolerance levels. After all, who would like to be constantly interrupted while they are trying to get something done?

With that out of the way and plans to ask if Blaise had thought of anything after dinner, Ron let his mind relax and started enjoying his food. It was now that he realized that he hadn't been enjoying much of anything in his quest to get Harry and Draco together. Well, he hadn't been enjoying food as much, he might have been enjoying his Potions partner a bit…. Sort of.

Now that he thought about it, what could he do when it came to Blaise? He would have more of a way to help Harry during the first rocky moments of his soon to be relationship with Draco, but what did he feel for the other? They got along and their first few meetings were almost like a strange, intricate dance as if they were both waiting to strike at the right moment and tumble down a hill into paradise. There were quite a few things that confused him about his collaboration with the Slytherin male.

First, he had nearly initiated a first kiss and, as far as he could remember, Blaise had nearly initiated the second one. They had both hugged one another closely to satisfy the requirements of the test trinket and had been planning together for quite some time. He thought about the times that Blaise was annoyed. It was also odd that he could tell when Blaise was annoyed, tired, happy, and amused. It could be simply that they spent way too much time together and yet the idea of not spending as much time with the other was a bit bothersome.

Ron closed his eyes a moment before reopening them. Maybe they could modify a potion for focus so that he didn't allow himself to stray far from the path. Their minor setback with the plan might not have happened, but he still liked the kiss. The inner fangirl of Ron was still dancing at the thought of the way Draco held Harry and seemed to dominate that kiss. He was right of course that Harry would end up in the more submissive position to Draco. It just wouldn't work any other way in his mind.

He saw Harry getting up and got up as well. They were going to meet the other two at the entrance to the Great Hall and proceed to the usual spot. Blaise caught him before he got out the door as Harry followed Draco and those two began talking about their project yet again. It seemed like Blaise was about to say something to him or at least that is how Ron remembered it; before they were joined by a third person. If only Ron realized how much he was absolutely going to hate what was to come next.

Blaise hadn't realized they were joined by a third person until he was lightly tapped on the shoulder. At first he looked at Ron figuring he was the one who tapped him, but it wasn't. Instead Blaise looked really confused at the person standing in front of him and wondered what they could possibly want. He had wanted to talk to Ron about their second almost kiss and if Ron had even wanted to kiss him or if this was just another part of his strategy. However, the person who stopped him had other plans.

"Blaise…. I was wondering… will you go out with me?"


	10. Chapter 9 - Friendships and Jealousy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters are OOC in some aspects or it wouldn't be fanfiction. :) Enjoy.
> 
> Warnings: Another kiss this chapter... *giggles*

Looks could most certainly kill right? No, because otherwise, Ron was pretty sure that muggleborn witch would be dead right now. It wasn't that he was currently agreeing with Voldemort – he was – but simply that he couldn't believe she really asked out Blaise in front of him. They weren't dating of course, he wasn't sure if he wanted to date Blaise, but he could pretty safely assume that the image of standing over Hermione's body while he used the cruciatus curse on her and laughing manically was not the way to go about this.

Still, it was a pretty tempting thought at the moment. He could even add a bit of dramatic music as she gave him this look of 'Ron how could you?' He would then tell her his plans of kissing Blaise and how he enjoyed having the dark skinned Italian's arms wrapped around him before sending another cruciatus curse her way. Oh yes, that sounded like a perfect plan. Ron figured he could be the next Dark Lord and come up with a much better name than Voldemort since anything with a name that rhymed with 'moldy shorts' was not worth listening to.

Ron realized he should be focusing more on the plan, but that plan included his partner… for class of course. Blaise would completely be distracted if he got a girlfriend and so the Slytherin should totally hex Hermione into the next century or ask for him to do it. Rationally, Ron knew this was due to a feeling of jealousy that he had, but he pushed it aside in favor of actively denying the jealousy existed. Come to think of it, he never asked Blaise if he was dating anyone. It just hadn't come up during their projects or planning or even when they skipped Lupin's class together. At the moment, he could thank Merlin – and hormones – that he didn't want Blaise to think he was psychotic and waited for Blaise to answer.

To say that Blaise was shocked would almost be the understatement of the year. Why on earth had Granger decided to ask him out? Another question would be on how to get out of this question without infuriating Ron anymore, which meant he could use no insults or hexes. Of course based on his quick glance survey of Ron, the other was about ready to hex her himself. This tidbit of information actually made Blaise smile as it answered one of his earlier questions. Now it would be getting the stubborn redhead to admit the mutual attraction. Ah, but yes he had to get rid of Granger first.

Blaise fully focused on Hermione and flashed her a bit of a charming smile. "I must admit I am quite surprised you randomly decided to ask me out, Granger. I would have expected you to ask out Ron." he said while thinking _and then I would have probably hexed you._

Hermione blushed at this. It wasn't that she didn't care for Ron, but he was becoming a bit unpredictable and well, more his own man. While the trait was something to be admired, it kind of made her feel as if she really didn't know Ron or anything about him. He hadn't even asked her for help on his assignments in the past week. During that week, she had begun to think about what she wanted in a partner. If Ron's seemingly new independence was off-putting, then perhaps she needed to find someone who was already independent. This way she would get to know them better and not be yet again, surprised by sudden independence. They would have just already been independent.

For the past week, she had compiled a list of all the guys that she found attractive and put them into a small chart that she kept on her person at all times. Beside each name on the chart, she had written down things that she noticed about each of the guys. That is how she had started noticing some similarities between both her and Blaise. After talking with Pansy and managing to get some of the details on the other, she had decided to ask the Slytherin male out on a date. If she couldn't stand the date, then it was obvious she needed to re-examine her theory or her attraction and crush on Blaise that had resulted from her research. She would have talked to Harry, but Harry had been off on protecting – stalking – Draco again after some sort of so-called attack and Ron was either with Blaise or staring off into space lately.

Blaise resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her. This is yet another reason he wouldn't accept the date, with the first being the fuming Gryffindor next to him. She just wasn't intriguing enough for him to want to date her or even consider it. "As much as I am sure you feel we probably have in common, I am afraid my sights are already set on someone much more intriguing. I'm sure you understand." It was the lightest, most neutral way that he could think of phrasing what he wanted to say, which was that she was boring.

"What could they have that I don't?" Hermione asked before she realized what she had said. Perhaps there was something about her that she needed to change for Blaise's attentions. After all the time she spent figuring it out, it made no sense that they wouldn't fit well together and much better than her and her former crush Ron. Depending on his answer, she planned to talk to Ron about it just to see if perhaps Blaise mentioned anything.

Blaise noticed Ron's fingers twitching even if Ron hadn't realized what it meant. Ending this soon would probably stop Ron from hexing the girl into oblivion and making people think he was the new Heir of Slytherin or something equally ridiculous. He would just have to explain that he had tried to be nice later on. Blaise looked Granger straight in the eyes and simply said, "Me."

Hermione was actually more offended by that blunt answer than she let on. She would have to go over her chart once more and see if perhaps she had made a mistake, but that would have been near impossible. After that, she would need to get some of the information from Ron or actually, she could do that right now. She was meeting Pansy in the library in about an hour as Pansy was tutoring a couple first year Slytherins on Charms. The other girl was actually quite amusing once you got past her sometimes obnoxious laughter. The Gryffindor girl nodded once at Blaise then as if finally noticing Ron, she grabbed his hand and ran down the hall with him to what she knew would be an empty classroom and shut the door.

Blaise was glaring at the spot where they left and then sighed following the path the girl went. He wouldn't intrude on their little talk, but he'd be lying if he claimed no curiosity about the whole situation. Perhaps, she would confess why she even decided to ask him out in the first place. More importantly, why she thought she could just run off with Ron like she owned him or something? As he got closer to the door, he cast a spell on his ears to allow him to hear what was said. There was no silencing charm on the door and he suspected that Granger didn't think he would follow or Ron took it down.

Ron, on the other hand, was in shock when she pulled him down the hallway and into the classroom or it would have never worked. He had been too busy trying not to smirk when Blaise gave her that answer of 'me'. Of course, this just allowed for another set of unpleasant images to arise in Ron's mind. Who the hell had captured Blaise's attentions and how should that person be 'taken care' of? At the current moment, his jealousy was blinding him to the fact that Blaise could very possibly have meant him.

He also couldn't play this incorrectly. If he had seemed to change too much, then she could ruin his plans of having Draco lead around Harry with a leash and collar. Or perhaps in a maid outfit so Draco could spank him for being a bad boy, and Harry could ask – no beg – Draco for forgiveness for being a naughty Gryffindor. He could just see it. _Oh Draco, you're amazing! I'm so sorry I was sorted into Gryffindor. You are so much better than the Weaselette._ Draco would pretend to stop Harry's punishment before spanking him again and stating, _No Potter… You will take your punishment and remember that your place is underneath me._ Ron was pretty sure that his inner fangirl was fanning herself in absolute delight of the fantasy. Ron agreed, thinking that it would be pretty hot to walk in on that and…

What was he supposed to be doing at the moment? Oh yes! He was supposed to be listening to Hermione talk about how she wanted to steal – err… ask out – Blaise.

"…and so that is how I figured that Blaise and I would actually work together." she said showing Ron the chart. She had been too busy trying to solve the problem that she didn't even notice that Ron hadn't been listening to her.

Ron looked at the chart and where Blaise ranked and then where he ranked on her list. He should feel more upset and offended by his low ranking, but instead he was pissed for a completely different reason. Where on earth had she decided that Blaise should be her number one? She couldn't pick anyone else in the whole entirety of Hogwarts?! How to phrase what he wanted to say without it coming out sounding like "Death to Mudbloods" or something? Jealousy sure did make one go against their natural thought process.

"Have you considered that he just may not be into you? I don't know if Zabini is dating or not, but it could be that he doesn't like you due to your… status?" Ron said hoping to every deity out there that it sounded diplomatic. He didn't want to have to deal with the questions she was sure to have if that wasn't.

Hermione nodded as she put the chart back into her bag. "I considered that at first when I started to come up with my analysis, but then I talked to Pansy." she said with a slight smile. It was nice to have a girly friend who didn't just want to hang over every cute guy. "She said that Blaise didn't care much about blood purity as long as the person held some sort of intrigue for him. It wouldn't be something fleeting if he did, because Blaise rarely shows interest in anything or anyone according to her."

"After years of us fighting with the Slytherins, you felt that he'd readily accept your offer for a date?" Ron asked her causing Hermione to frown.

She looked at Ron closely. "What on earth has gotten into you since last summer? Why do you say things that seem to make sense, but then slip right back into old prejudices? Not everyone thinks I am unattractive Ron!" she said with an indignant huff.

Ron sighed. "I'm sorry Hermione. I've just been under a lot of stress with this project and Blaise is a damn slave driver. I'm about ready to hex someone from all the research and while I'm serious about becoming an Auror, I still wanted to have some fun my last year, you know?"

Hermione looked at him carefully as if trying to discern a lie within his eyes. Ron almost snorted at her attempt knowing that he looked sincere. He'd been hanging out with a Slytherin for quite some time and it was only natural he picked up a few things. Of course, he also had the fact that he showed a fairly different side to everyone that was different from the side Blaise got to see, at least for now. Once he graduated, he was quite sure he'd have to show a bit more of his capabilities to be successful.

"I can understand that and I know you don't like the Slytherins, but are you sure that Blaise hasn't told you anything? Maybe hinted at what he likes? I don't mean to sound so pushy, but as much as I love studying, I think I should have one date before I graduate and as my chart stated, Blaise and I have the best chance." she said to him. It wasn't that she was trying to irritate Ron, but she had figured this out before deciding to ask, but she could have forgotten a piece of the puzzle. She wasn't sure which piece of the puzzle, but one thing could throw everything off.

Ron was irritated to say the least. Why wouldn't she just give up this stubborn notion to date Blaise? "Maybe relationships can't be calculated Hermione. Seriously, have you ever known someone to get together after careful calculations?" he asked her. Granted, she would know a couple like that once he got Harry and Draco together, but not at the moment.

"I suppose not, but-", Hermione started only to be cut off by Ron. This was another reason that she was not sure she wanted to be with Ron. It was odd that he was standing up to her completely this way. It just didn't fit with her overall knowledge of one of her oldest friends.

"No buts Hermione. You should actually go sit down and think about this before asking out random people. I don't want to see you get hurt because you decided to be impulsive and try to date someone like Blaise who would never give you the time of day." he said adding a bit of that passion into his voice.

There was a glimpse of the Ron she knew. Perhaps Ron truly had been under a lot of stress lately. Hermione couldn't help but smile at Ron. "Thanks, you're a good friend. I am off to study. See you later." she said as she left the classroom.

Ron was still annoyed when she left. The whole situation was a bit odd to him, considering at one point he had considered dating her. Who knew she would go off the deep end and try to date someone based on a calculation? Didn't she realize that opposites attract and strengthen through the differences that they had to face? He was sure she'd realize it eventually. Ron knew he would have to find Blaise soon so they could work on their project more, but he needed a moment. He cast a simple cushioning charm on a table and laid back on it with his legs bent at the knees and his arms crossed over his eyes to block out the light. He began to slowly count in his mind not even flinching when he heard the door open and close.

"You know Ron… the way you handled that is through what us normal people call jealousy." Blaise said, as he placed his bag down and locked the door. He had been listening to the conversation and waited to make sure that Granger wasn't coming back before entering. Blaise went over to the table and sat next to Ron's stomach as he looked at him.

"Shut up Zabini." Ron said and didn't move his arms. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy Blaise's company, but that he had a lot to think about concerning his own actions and how to proceed from there.

Oh no, he was not hiding at this point. Blaise's eyes narrowed a bit before he firmly grabbed Ron's wrists and pulled them away from the redhead's face and pinned them to either side of his head. "My name is Blaise, unless talking to Granger made you suddenly forget that." he said with a hint of an edge to his voice.

Ron stared into Blaise's eyes. He could feel his heart beating just a bit faster and that blasted blush begin to take over his face. "I didn't forget." he said as evenly as he could. It wasn't fair to be a bit upset with Blaise as he highly doubted his partner knew what Hermione planned to ask him.

Blaise slid his hands up to Ron's and intertwined their fingers as he leaned a bit closer and spoke in a quieter voice. "You know Ron… it would be so much easier if you just admit that you're jealous." he said with his eyes never leaving those of the other.

Ron looked up at Blaise staring back into his eyes with an almost defeated look. There was a fire there and something akin to a tiny ray of hope as he moved their intertwined hands under his head. This action pulled Blaise a bit closer to him and he spoke just as softly. "Must I tell you, what you already know, Blaise?"

Blaise's eyes traveled to Ron's lips and then back to his eyes as he leaned closer. He squeezed Ron's hands a bit tighter in his own. "No… I suppose not." With those softly spoken words, Blaise leaned down and kissed Ron on the lips. It had been like he imagined and not. The kiss could be considered passionate and yet soft… yielding… inviting… beautiful.

A soft swipe of his tongue and lips parted beneath in hopes of getting more and breathing. It was an exquisite exploration of longing and tastes of intrigue, acceptance, and belonging. The simple glow of feelings between the two young partners in crime and now partners in so much more could be felt between them both. There was nothing more to say or do as they slowly parted with a gasp. Soft smiles adorned their faces when the kiss was over. Ron felt relaxed, confident, and happy. Blaise felt happy, relaxed, and he still found Ron quite intriguing. They stared at each other only a moment longer before another squeeze of their connected hands and the start of yet another kiss.

_The Usual Meeting Place_

Harry was currently writing down what happened when Draco cast the spells at the dummies. It was the simpler part of their project because they would compose their presentation from the notes that they decided to take on this part of it. Normally, Harry would have insisted on casting the spells, but he had wanted a few moments to himself to think. He had talked to Ginny earlier today and it had been awkward at best.

They had hugged and kissed, but it seemed to lack the passion that it once had. Perhaps, there had never been that passion, but instead his desire to be with a more familiar girl. Her words and Draco's had remained in his mind during their kiss and it caused him to question their entire relationship. She wasn't even sure that he loved her and yet they were dating. He wasn't sure if it was because she wasn't sure or because it seemed like she didn't care. Now Harry understood that people didn't have the best reasons not to get married, but he had to agree with Draco that love should be a part of the equation. If Ginny felt that he didn't love her, then did she actually love him?

That was what the crux of the problem truly came down to. Were him and Ginny really just together for the sake of being together? If that was the case, shouldn't he have been the one to notice it? Harry had once felt that her care for him was hero worship, but she had expressed that it wasn't. However, then there was the talking aspect of their relationship. He hadn't told her that he no longer desired to join the ministry as an auror. In fact, he hadn't even told her what he planned to do. They hadn't discussed what they would do after he graduated this year, nor had they discussed what would happen past that point.

He hadn't told her that he planned on buying a place that he could put under various charms to avoid any more prying into his life. It wasn't that Harry had wanted a simple, anti-'Boy Who Lived' type of life, nor did he want some showboating, pro-'Boy Who Lived' life. Harry just felt as though it was something that would come and go. He wasn't interested in using his name to control the wizarding world, but he also wasn't interested in reading the Prophet and seeing statements of what type of toilet paper he used. Harry wanted a simple life where if someone took a picture while he was out, then they took a picture. If he wanted a private evening out, then there were places in which privacy was held in the highest regard and he could go to those. Why hadn't he talked to her about these things though? It would seem only natural to talk to someone you were dating about these things, wouldn't it?

However, he hadn't spoken to her.

He hadn't spoken to her about anything and so she decided on marriage.

They were just going through the motions.

This realization hit Harry like a ton of Hermione's books, but he didn't know what to make of it. On one hand, he could break it off with her, but then where would that leave him? It was another problem wasn't it? Was he truly so dependent on someone else to dictate the rest of his life? Harry would like to believe that he was able to think about his decisions and decide on the best course of action by now, but that didn't seem to be the case. If it had been, then this situation would have never arisen. He was worried though. What would his friends think? What would his surrogate family think? What would…

"You know, Harry, if you are too tired to continue along with this tonight, then we can stop." Draco said having noticed the other didn't write anything down for the last three or four spells. It was obvious that something was on his mind and it was taking precedence over their project for the moment. He was basically giving Harry an easy out to say he was tired and work on something else.

"No. I am not tired. I'm distracted." Harry said as the best way to convey the thoughts that he was having.

Draco stared at Harry for a few moments until the other started fidgeting beneath his gaze. "Well, we aren't going to get anything done while you are distracted. So… do you want to talk about it?" he asked sitting in the chair next to Harry's.

Harry looked at Draco as if he was deciding whether or not to spill his thoughts to the other. They were not close by any means, but Draco did seem to have some good advice. "I was thinking about Ginny and this whole situation with her. Even after her proposing to me, we still don't seem to talk much. I was just realizing that while I've never discussed plans with her, she has not discussed hers with me. It is almost as if we are just going through the routine of being together with nothing much there."

The platinum blonde closed his eyes thoughtfully as he thought of the similar situation that he had dealt with involving Pansy. "Hmmm… when Pansy had it in her head that we should be married, I had reminded her about not knowing each other during her proposal. After that, she had wanted to find out more about me, but the communication never increased. In fact, things began to go back partially to the way they were before. Her issue was that being Lady Malfoy was worth more to her than getting to know her dream partner. I don't think it had occurred to her what all that entailed, past what she had been taught."

"Naturally, she started truly thinking about what she wanted and realized that she didn't know me as well as she thought she did. I think that there is something similar to that when it comes to you and your girlfriend. During her first year, it was clear how much she was 'in love' with you, but any deep feelings of love don't just happen at first sight, not even in the wizarding world. All she truly had was an idea of you based on what her brother's probably reported and the stories we had all been told as children. In second year, you saved her and basically reinforced her fantasies that you were this great hero, but there were never truly any interactions after that. While I was never with you during the summers or in Gryffindor tower, you can tell when someone interacts with another person more often than not." Draco stated moving platinum blonde hair from his eyes.

Harry nodded. "Well no, there wasn't during the summers or in Gryffindor tower. I was focused on the mission of killing Voldemort and so I never really focused on her as more than my best friend's little sister."

"It makes sense overall. Most guys wouldn't decide that their best friend's little sister was fair game when it came to dating. It would just be awkward. Back to the explanation, the more you did in the fight against… Voldemort, the more she became interested. You were living up to the fantasies that she had been building. In sixth year, when you were stalking me everywhere to find out what I was up to, you asked her out, but your focus was still elsewhere. Subconsciously, you may have begun to date her simply due to the fear of dying without experiencing a full relationship."

"There started the problem. Her fantasies, like those of hundreds of thousands of other witches and wizards in Great Britain, were coming true. She could have what she always dreamed. Then Hermione found that spell and with the help of quite a few people, myself included, you defeated Voldemort. Without the conflict, you had time to focus on your relationship with her. Correct me if I am wrong, but there was still some of that residual fear within your heart. You figured that everything would work itself out and didn't care as much to further explore it. I am not saying that you don't care about her, but that you've sort of blocked yourself from fully participating in the relationship because you don't want it." Draco sighed as he finished his explanation. Most relationships were complicated because people didn't pay attention to the differences of someone and were only caught up in their own perceptions of their partner.

It was Harry's turn to close his eyes and focus on what he was being told. His relationship with Ginny was safe for the most part. The life he had with his relatives was akin to forced slave labor and even then it could have always been worse. They could have had him sleeping outside in a dog house or even given him up for adoption to a worse home. It could have been as simple for them as to take Harry on vacation one day and then leave him for dead in some place, but they hadn't. Why was he dating her? "It is strange, but you give amazing advice in these matters. I am now focusing on the big question of why I am dating Ginny. I can't say that you are wrong though, because I don't think you are. Ginny and I have never really talked and being together is somehow expected of us. I don't even know why. Surely, someone else has been able to see this. Hell, you were able to see this and you were probably just watching for a way to plot your next prank or revenge for something."

Draco laughed a bit. "That is most certainly the truth. I never really spent time thinking of things from my perspective during all the craziness from then to now. As for why you are dating her, you just answered your own question. It was expected and the other answer is that you wanted to be closer to your friends. I thought like that once. I had resigned myself to marrying Pansy or some other pureblood because it was what was expected. Your best friend probably expects you to marry his sister or perhaps his family expected you two would marry. I hate to point this out, but it is almost like a relationship with her was pushed upon you and you are realizing that it isn't what you thought you wanted."

A light smile appeared on Harry's face as he looked at Draco. "How is it that you not only know these things, but can so easily put into words the things I think I am afraid to say?"

"Truthfully, I just don't want people to make the mistakes I've seen my parents and my friend's parents make. I had to grow up in a world that seemed so bright, but instead it was dark and cold. I shouldn't care since people are bound to make their own mistakes. I can't say I care more than offering advice or diffusing potentially bad situations. The people involved still have to take the next step because I can't do that for them. There is so much someone can miss out on because they are too busy ignoring the future by focusing only on what binds them to the past." Draco said seemingly staring at the table.

Harry couldn't help himself and gently placed a hand on Draco's shoulder before removing it. "I would have never thought of it that way. In all honesty, I'd probably view it as running away and not being able to deal with what life hands you, but you don't look at it like that. You look at it in terms of a person growing and allowing themselves to breathe easier. I think you've made some fantastic changes to life that people truly should give you more credit for. Of course, you could just want me to break up with Ginny so you can ask her out."

Draco laughed again for a little bit, before he calmed down and the amusement was clearly showing in his eyes. "Thanks. I needed to laugh. I think I've been much too serious lately. However, I can assure you that the likelihood of me asking out the Weasley girl is the same as Granger suddenly deciding to ask out Blaise. It isn't that likely."

"Well…. Actually….. Hermione….um…." Harry trailed off as he tried to figure out the best way to tell him that he overheard Pansy giving Hermione tips on asking out Blaise.

"Wait… she did what?" Draco asked figuring that is what Harry was trying to say.

Harry blinked and fidgeted slightly. They all might be more mature, but for all Harry knew Draco was dating Blaise or something. "Well, she has been worried about Ron lately and I overheard her talking to Pansy about a chart she made or something. She was saying that it showed Blaise as her perfect match based on observations she had and…"

Draco stopped Harry before he started rambling on and on about Granger and charts. "I can honestly say that I am surprised. Not surprised that she might try to date a Slytherin as houses aren't going to matter much outside of Hogwarts. We will all have to work and find our way and I doubt any of us will be taken seriously if we put our house affiliation on an application minus mentioning extracurricular activities. I am just surprised that she is basing everything on some observations. You never know a person unless you talk to them. When will women understand this?"

It was Harry's turn to start laughing. After all, it really did seem like some of the women they knew were act first, think later when it came to their interests. "I will take that to mean she doesn't have a chance in hell with Zabini, then?"

"None at all. Blaise is a good friend, but he is very… a person has to interest him and then keep being interesting up to the point he falls in love with them. He once said that when he falls in love, he hopes the person has no plans on getting away because he'll keep them forever. I am highly inclined to believe this given how he responds to most people." Draco said shaking his head as it all finally sunk in.

Harry nodded and then blinked. "Speaking of Blaise, I wonder where he and Ron are. I suppose they could have gone to the library to get more books or Hermione did ask Blaise. I kind of feel bad for the guy now. Hermione can't help but ask a million questions if something seems off about her work, regardless of what it is." he told Draco.

Draco was looking over the notes that Harry had taken and underlining parts of them before placing it down. "That is probably what happened. I'll probably ask Blaise about it later or something."

"I'll probably ask Ron as well. Draco…" Harry began noticing the other glance at him when he said his first name. "All I know about you are ideals that you don't even seem to truly hold and that you give amazing advice. I had thought about your words before we… well… you know… the other day and besides realizing you were right yet again, I wondered if you would like to try and become friends."

"I'd like that very much Harry. If we became friends, I wouldn't feel like so much of a mind healer or muggle therapist. I would say instead of trying to forget the past that we improve upon the future of friendship by disproving or proving what we claim to know about each other. What do you say to that plan?" Draco asked.

"Well Draco, I'd say that plan is pretty perfect." Harry said and then they started working on their project again.


	11. Chapter 10 - Sometimes plans work out....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters are OOC in some aspects or it wouldn't be fanfiction. :) Enjoy.
> 
> Another necessary chapter to set up the next one. :)

A week had passed since Hermione had asked out Blaise. The whole situation was honestly confusing for her, and so she enlisted Pansy's help to figure out who had captured Blaise's attentions. During this time, Harry and Draco enjoyed their twenty minutes of random chatter during the project meetings and Ginny was still trying to figure a way to keep Harry. Ron, on the other hand, was quite enjoying being in the company of Blaise.

Blaise just so happened to always be there to walk Ron to Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. People had chocked it up to them being partners in class, and as such tended to miss the smile Ron would give Blaise when their eyes met. Ron was enjoying the sweet stolen moments between him and his… wait… what the hell were they? In truth, they kissed quite a bit and only had eyes for each other, but they hadn't made anything official.

Blaise knew that Ron would eventually settle on the fact that they hadn't made anything official, but he had a plan for that. As far as Blaise was concerned, Ron was his and only his. When Ron would finally decide to mention it, Blaise would give him the small, silver promise ring that he carried around to signify their exclusivity to each other. The ring would be invisible to anyone but him and Ron until they came out as a couple. In the meantime though, he had to report to him on Draco's slowly shifting attitude towards Potter.

It was currently Lupin's special "no-class" time and he had left strict instructions that he wanted the rough draft of their papers by next week. Blaise and Ron went to the usual abandoned classroom to wait for Harry and Draco from the library. The four of them had gotten used to working together even under the strange pretense it started. It was a welcomed advantage to Ron's plan to get the other two together though. The moment they entered the classroom, Blaise pulled Ron into a light kiss before pulling away and setting up a table for them.

Ron smiled and went to set his things up as well. There was no reason to dwell on a simple kiss and act in the same manner that he wanted Harry to respond to Draco. The question from earlier was on his mind though. "Blaise… are we…"

Blaise cut off Ron's sentence with a kiss as he slipped the ring on to his finger. "Yes we are."

Ron smiled a bit more then and hugged the other before opening up his books. "Do you have anything to report on the plan? Harry has been spending less time with my sister and more time talking about how Draco truly isn't the world's worst person."

"Draco has been talking about enjoying his twenty minute sessions of just idle chatter with Harry. I think they are on the road to becoming friends which means your plan of getting them annoyed with each other will be back on in full force. I've even caught Draco smiling more which is a definite change from the more seriousness he has shown of late. He has also talked of how Harry is picking up on and taking his advice on things." Blaise stated as he separated some of his notes into piles based on importance.

"Harry is a quick learner when he wants to be. I believe we can safely assume that Harry notices the positive affect that Draco is having on him. The same can be said for Draco noticing the positive affect Harry is having on him as well. There is a Hogsmeade weekend coming up and maybe if we can dedicate part of it to the plan, the rest could be used for a date?" Ron asked sounding a tad bit hopeful on both accounts.

A chuckle came from Blaise's lips. "You are a fantastic strategist from what I am witnessing and yet you managed to sound absolutely, adorably hopeful when asking your boyfriend for a date." It was obvious the dark-skinned male found it quite endearing, but also quite amusing. "Yes, we can split up the day the way you mentioned. In fact, you take care of the plan for the day and let me set up the date."

Ron smiled and nodded as he finished splitting up the notes that he had. He would have a nice little date on Saturday and he'd be the perfect student until then. It wouldn't do to have detention that day or well any distractions minus the plan. Maybe he could help along the Hogsmeade part of the plan before the weekend, but the question was how. "What if I suggest they spend the Hogsmeade trip together?"

Blaise thought about it as he flipped through his book to find the notes he had written in it. "I would say that the plan would fall apart faster than you could blink." he stated before putting a small book marker on the page he found and looked for others. "It would seem ridiculously suspicious if you just stated 'Hey! I think you two should spend the Hogsmeade trip together'".

Ron both hated and cared for his Slytherin boyfriend. "I would have thought we'd established that I have a brain and do know how to use it Zabini."

"Mhm. Just like I realized that you call me Zabini when you are annoyed with me. It kind of makes me imagine you as an annoyed little housewife with your hands on your hips. Admittedly, it is kind of amusingly cute in a way." Blaise said without looking up from his book as he marked another page to come back to for information.

It was silent in the classroom as Blaise patiently waited for that tidbit of information to catch up with his scheming Gryffindor. Blaise reflected briefly on their strange, and yet completely peaceful relationship. They were almost complete opposites and yet they had so many different similarities that it made everything worth it. He had truly never been this intrigued by anyone in his life and he planned to spend the rest of his life with the redhead.

Of course, Ron didn't need to know that just yet. In fact, he was pretty sure it would send the other into a blushing, screaming fit into which Blaise might just have to use a love potion on him. He was not above using sneaky, underhanded tactics to keep Ron with him considering his growing interest and, dare he say, growing feelings for the redhead. Speaking of his speechless boyfriend, he should be hearing an outburst in about 3…2… 1…

"I would not be a housewife!" Ron exclaimed glaring at Blaise. Why was it that Blaise got to him so much? The obvious answer was the attraction, but there had to be something else unless he was always subconsciously attracted to Blaise. He shook his head and visibly calmed down before speaking again. "Now that I got that out of the way, I was thinking using Harry's crumbling relationship with my sister in order to get them to spend the day together. Just follow along whenever they get in here. At this rate, Draco's going to request Harry tied up in Slytherin colors for graduation. It is going to be bloody fantastic!"

Now usually Blaise would say something about someone having a crazy obsession complete with thoughts, but he had been working with Ron for quite some time. He could even see why the redhead would want to see Harry and Draco together. What he couldn't fully understand was why he wanted Harry as submissive as possible to Draco? Oh yes. The moment they had begun seeing each other and stealing kisses between planning, he had asked Ron about what he saw for the two once he got them together. It was normal-like at first. A few dates here and perhaps them moving in together, but then it got a little strange.

It wasn't ridiculously strange, and admittedly kind of hot, but he would hate to be Ron's best friend. The words 'Harry' and 'dominate' didn't seem to be part of Ron's overall, surprisingly impressive vocabulary. He had been witness to quite a few of Ron's fan-girl fantasies. The last fantasy involved Draco whipping Harry in a dungeon until Harry apologized for being a poor half-blood. For a Gryffindor that felt pureblood superiority was inherently stupid, he sure loved Harry in some slightly degrading and yet somehow sexy situations with Draco.

The half-blood one wasn't a normal one of course. Oh no. Blaise witnessed Ron going on and on about how Draco would stake his claim on Harry in the middle of the Great Hall. That fantasy was one that Blaise was keeping for himself and maybe doing part of it to claim Ron in front of everyone. He was sure that Hermione would have tried asking Pansy who caught his attention. If only she looked a bit closer, she would have found it was her friend and former crush, Ron.

The particular fantasy in mind was that Draco would go over to the Gryffindor table. No words were spoken as he went over to Harry and then sat next to him after moving some other poor Gryffindor out of the way. Harry was about to protest about the treatment of his associate when Draco just shut him up with one hell of a kiss. Ron had imagined and told every tiny detail of the kiss, the passion, and the words spoken afterwards. Blaise would be more than happy to reenact that fantasy substituting him and Ron for Draco and Harry.

Even then, that fantasy was relatively normal. The other ones were somewhere in the middle and definitely more intimate than he wanted to imagine. The only conclusion he could draw from it was that he would hate being Harry. Of course, he was planning to help them get together, but it wasn't anyone else's business who topped and who did not. Ron was set on Harry being the submissive though and Blaise could admit that Draco would probably be happier with that arrangement than anything else they could come up with. He was still quite interested in knowing how far Ron would go to get them together and then what he would do to keep them together. His musings were cut short, by the entrance of Harry and Draco into the classroom.

"….and so we can write up two pages each day for the next two to three days and put them together for the paper." Draco was saying as they walked into the classroom.

Harry, for his part, just nodded and agreed on that course of action. "Hey you two. Sorry, it took so long for us to meet up with you. We got sidetracked adding some information to our paper. Draco is a perfectionist." he said with a light roll of his eyes. It was said in jest though and so Draco didn't even look offended.

"Of course I am. I do plan to work for a living." he said laughing as he set up his and Harry's information on another table.

Ron saw his opening and took it quickly. "So Harry, are you planning to go to Hogsmeade next weekend? I figured it would be a good for you to spend a bit of time with Ginny."

Harry bit his lip trying to figure out if he could say anything to get out of it. The truth was that he hadn't wanted to deal with Ginny after her proposal and insistence on being together. He hadn't broken up with her, because he felt there still might be something there and wanted to be sure that there wasn't. Ron would be upset though if he didn't ask out Ginny for the weekend. "I… I am going to a-"

"He is spending the day in Hogsmeade with me." Draco answered without looking up. He had talked to Harry more about his relationship with Ginny and the other seemed to be quite uncomfortable with the situation. This should give him an out of having to explain anything to Ron at the moment, as he could understand not wanting to tell a friend that his sister was positively insane.

Blaise would probably be getting lap dance right now, if Ron thought that Harry wouldn't think he'd gone mad. Their friendship seemed to progress a lot faster than he had thought or Draco really did care about people not rushing into relationships like that. It was most certainly the latter, but Ron had hopes that it would be the former. The thought of Draco tying up Harry and covering him in honey and chocolate was enough to make him spasm from the sweetness. Draco would be slowly licking it off and whispering sweet things to Harry like _Come on baby. Beg me to lick you all over._ Harry, of course, would respond with _Please master. Please give me the honor of having you lick me clean._ Draco would proceed to lick him all clean and then tell Harry that if he wants any more then he needs to service him like a good little slut. Ron could fan himself just thinking about it.

Ron knew that Blaise probably realized he was off in another one of his fantasies, but he wouldn't be called on that fact. No. He blinked and shook his head as if he was trying to figure out if Harry was still Harry. "You two are spending the day together?! Even without the needing to? What the hell Harry? What about Gin?" he asked seeming as if he couldn't understand the concept.

Harry looked at Ron with an almost apologetic look. "I'm sorry Ron, but I need to do some shopping for the project with Draco. I had forgotten about it until Draco mentioned we'd be spending the day together. I am sure Ginny will understand. She is so supportive of my wanting to become an Auror and so she knows I need to do really well at this class." he said silently thanking the time he had spent with Draco.

A sigh escaped Ron's lips. "I suppose you are right. I guess I should meet up with Blaise at some point that day to go over the project. I don't want to know what mum would say if she knew I was slacking off in my last year and Hermione would be even worse. Fine. Want to meet up on the weekend Blaise and we can talk more about our projects? I suppose we can even pick up the extra Potions stuff while we're there." Ron knew his voice sounded like he hated the idea of school on the weekend, but he felt it went pretty well.

"I didn't plan on doing anything this weekend. The Potions ingredients we need aren't here at school so getting them this weekend will mean not failing Professor Snape's class." Blaise said as if it didn't matter. He flipped through his notes some more, but he couldn't help being impressed with Ron's skills. Blaise had been worried about not being able to escape for their date due to needing to keep up appearances, but who would question it now. They would meet up, go to the apothecary, and then just so happen to have a nice lunch together after all the project shopping. Under this same pretense, they could leave early to come back to the castle and then he could have Ron against the wall moaning like the sexy Gryffindor slut, Ron wished Harry was.

Harry smiled at Ron. "See? Everything worked out. I will do my best to make more time for Ginny later. Promise?" Harry said. Next time he made time for her, it might be to break up with the girl. Draco wouldn't be able to save him every weekend, but for a few weekends or so he had an excuse.

He also had another reason to smile. Draco and he had been becoming friends over the past week and typically set aside twenty minutes just to talk about their lives. Harry found out that Draco loved the colors crimson and silver and that he planned to invest in wizarding entertainment. He stated that it would be great to have theatre shows in the wizarding world where people danced, sang, and acted live on stage to help people escape for a while. Most wizards were too uptight to visit a muggle theatre and so Draco thought about bringing it there.

Harry had told Draco about his plans to open an amusement park for wizards, and their normal twenty minutes extended into the next hour about the different research and attractions they could incorporate. It was this conversation that continued solidifying the fact that Ginny wasn't the right one for him. How could he expect a future with her when he never shared those plans, and yet he shared them with Draco? It was a bit strange, but they did have a good amount in common with one another.

Apparently, Draco never gelled his hair back, he just got used to combing it wrong. His hair just dried that way after he got out of the shower. The conversation had been about their hair because they were trying to disprove each other on that random aspect. Harry admitted that if he spent more time on his hair, then it would probably be manageable and he learned that about Draco. Maybe during the Hogsmeade visit they could learn more about each other. With Hermione seemingly more interested in Ron's partner, Ginny losing her mind, and Ron being a bit more quiet than usual; it was nice to have someone to talk to about random things like that.

How could he break things off without saying it was her fault? Harry knew some of it was his fault, but mostly it was the odd way she thought of helping along their relationship. The insistence that she should know everything about him made him feel as open and vulnerable as the reporters did. Was he not allowed to have a few secrets to himself? Did he have to leave himself so open? Harry heard a question in the back of his mind. _If that's how you feel, why did you share so much more with Draco?_

So he answered it in his mind, _Because I feel closer as a friend to Draco, then I've ever felt while dating Ginny._

_In the Library_

Ginerva Weasley didn't always admit to being confused on a situation, but Harry truly confused her. The advice she got from both Ron and Draco confused her. The fact that she was confused when it came to Harry confused her. Her days were spent trying to figure out if everything she believed about her relationship was a lie. It just didn't make sense. They were happy before now right?

Perhaps it was simply that they didn't have enough time to talk while in school. She could ask Harry to go to Hogsmeade with her on the weekend, but she didn't think that Harry would be up to being in public. Actually, while they ate together and sat together in the common room, they were not in public together too often. She wasn't looking for his fame, but his heart or at least that is what she thought it was. This shouldn't be confusing! Did she not date enough people to test the waters? Or perhaps it was because they hadn't had done sex?

Living in a house with nothing but brothers, she bet this was the reason that Harry didn't want to spend as much time with her. Or maybe he wanted a more of a connection before they took their relationship to the next level? The connection would be best because then they would hold no secrets from one another when they finally shared themselves completely with one another. The question was how to get Harry to open up.

It was an obvious mistake to ask for Harry's hand in marriage before they understood one another. Harry had basically seen her since she was ten and she had been more open about her family. It helped that he was friends with Ron as well, which meant that Harry knew her more than she knew him. A groan left Ginny's lips as she pushed another book away from her. She had been looking through books, spells, and even magazines on the off chance that something would give her a clue as to what she could do.

She had gone over everything from sharing secret journals to using truth serum for them to be honest with one another for at least an hour. However, she knew Harry would never consent to that. He probably wanted to tell her things but was afraid she wouldn't understand. There were things that she would probably be confused on, but she was willing to try. Of course, she didn't think he'd want to share anything too bad with her.

It felt like everyone was seeing something that she was missing. Other girls in her year were just jealous that she was dating Harry Potter, the Boy Who Defeated Voldemort. Some of them told her that she needed to find a way to dress sexier to get his attention. Then there were those that thought Harry was cheating on her because the lack of intimacy suggested that. Harry did come back into the Gryffindor common room like a week or so ago with that smile on his face that made her curious. There had been a subtle touch to the lips, but she doubted Harry would have cheated on her or anything. He was much too sweet for that.

What did she know about Harry? He didn't seem to trust people easily even if he was suddenly friends with Draco Malfoy. It was probably because he had to work with the other and it was most certainly easier to work for a friend than an enemy. Ginny shook her head in amusement. It wasn't like she'd ever have to worry about Harry sharing more about himself with Draco over her. Friends or not, she had known Harry much longer.

Harry also liked Quidditch considering he played on the Gryffindor team as a reserve seeker. He was an only child and so he'd definitely want children one day. Harry was great at defensive spells and teaching them, but closed up about personal details. He seemed to like sweets and loved presents, but who didn't. If only she could think of a way for him to open up, but still not have to talk. Wait! There was a way that she had over looked. She would just need to ask him, but he'd agree. He loved her, right? She still wasn't sure, but she knew this plan was perfect.


	12. Chapter 11 - And other things fall apart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters are OOC in some aspects or it wouldn't be fanfiction. :) Enjoy. 
> 
> Warnings: Very very light F/F as in if you squint really hard and flip upside down there you go. Some kisses (M/M). Slightly crazy Ginny. I think that is it.

Hermione walked down the corridor perfectly dressed for the weather.  She was meeting with Pansy today since the Slytherin girl was going to help her with her clothing choices.  Pansy said she had desperately needed fashion help and that she was glad Hermione finally asked.  When she sent a letter to her mother about helping the muggleborn girl, her mother sent her extra funds and a bunch of magazines on the latest fashion.  The note had included the last line of ‘Finally, a muggleborn with a bit of common sense.’

Pansy hadn’t cared much about that last line.  Her family had blood superiority ideals, but thanks to Draco turning down her proposal, she had begun to think a bit differently.   She definitely deserved to be valued in a marriage with someone instead of just shown as a trophy.  There was also nothing wrong with making your own way.  However, that last lesson was one she learned from watching Hermione.  She may not have understood it when she was younger and focused on Draco and only Draco, but she understood it now as a maturing woman finishing school. 

The moment they met up outside, Pansy gave Hermione a smile and then shook her head in disgust at the Gryffindor girl’s clothing.  “Oh yes.  We are going to have a lot of work to do.” she said as a light shone in her eyes.  She was determined to give the girl one hell of a makeover.

Hermione sighed and did her best not to say something.  She just reminded herself that this is why she wanted Pansy’s help.  A Slytherin pureblood had to know how to snag another Slytherin pureblood.  “Well then, let’s get started.  As long as I don’t look trampy, then I don’t mind how things turn out.”

Truer words had never been spoken.

Hermione didn’t know what had gone on the moment they entered Hogsmeade, but now she was in a store that she would never shop in and wearing… a corset! It was a nice corset and covered most of her stomach, but it showed a decent bit of cleavage.  Hermione was caught between admiring how it looked and covering up her chest as if she was naked.  Pansy seemed to be looking quite approvingly before using a spell to put the pants she had picked on the girl. 

“Mmm… perfect.” Pansy said as she looked her up and down approvingly. The corset and illusionary tight pants brought out the figure that the studious girl seemed to hide all the time.

“And you are sure that this will get his attention?” Hermione asked still not settling on whether or not the clothes made her feel comfortable. 

Pansy smiled and placed her hands on Hermione’s waist as they both looked in the mirror together.  “I think he will adore it.  How could he not want to get his hands all over this pretty little waist of yours?” she said increasing the pressure lightly on Hermione’s hips to make her point clear.

“You are positive?” Hermione asked not minding the hands on her waist.  She could only imagine how it would feel to have more possessive hands in that same position and gripping just a bit harder than Pansy was doing now.  “I don’t know about this.  I think he would think I was chubby or something.”

“You are most certainly not fat!” Pansy said squeezing Hermione’s waist even tighter, accidentally digging her nails in a bit.  “See? No fat or anything here.”

Hermione almost moaned at the tighter grip to her hips.  She hoped it left marks on her skin, not that anyone would ever know that.  She was the good girl of Gryffindor and people might die of shock to find out she had less than innocent fantasies at times.  Currently, the lovely star of them was Blaise Zabini, but both Harry and Ron had been stars of them before.  Hermione was thinking that Pansy may be gracing a few of those fantasies due to the grip she had on her.

In hindsight, she supposed she had grown up never really thinking about what she may want or like. She could admit to being bisexual quite easily, but in truth the threat of Voldemort hanging over their heads everyday had kind of stunted their emotional and hormonal development.  After all, who was thinking about experimentation when a crazy mad man was trying and failing to kill your best friend?  It had taken a long bit of research for her to find that seek and destroy spell, but nothing more than about two to three months and then another two to three months to make sure all the directives were met.  The lovely thing was that with all the information that she had at her disposal, it had been almost ridiculously easy to defeat Voldemort and go back to everyday life.

When she had come back to Hogwarts, she couldn’t let go of the past and was waiting for something to happen.  She had been waiting for a threat, a mystery, pretty much anything that could happen, but nothing did.  It was then that she decided to try and figure out her feelings for Ron.  Hermione could never predict that the redhead would grow up so much and be completely unpredictable to her.  She supposed that it was simply part of growing up, but the whole thing unnerved her.  She wanted something predictable and Blaise would be because she would already know about his independence beforehand. 

This current situation was not predictable.  She was out with Pansy and continued to try on lots of clothing until her entire wardrobe had been changed… even the undergarments!  They had stopped for a light lunch and then finished up by getting potions that would help Hermione with her hair and make-up.  By the time they were done, Hermione doubted it was past three in the afternoon but her thoughts were less than innocent and she hoped she had some marks left from trying on various outfits today.  The two girls made it back up to the school and proceeded to go to Pansy’s room and sort through the purchases.  

_Ron and Harry_

There should be a law against not having something to wear on a date, Ron thought as he found some half way decent clothing in his trunk.  He had gotten clothing as gifts from his brothers who had thought they were being hilarious with their choice.  They had stated something along the lines of being tired of seeing their brother in their old things.   The clothing wasn’t too bad, but at the time, he was just worried about what Blaise would think.  Once he had a job, he may go shopping for some better clothing.  It wouldn’t be top of the line, but it would look somewhat better than this and…

Oh!

Transfiguration! Charms!

Why was it that no one thought of that before?  Harry would wear the most oversized clothing before and yet no one mentioned he could transfigure his clothes to something nicer while at school.  Ron picked out a decent pair of jeans and a shirt.  He used transfiguration to change the size of the items and in the shirt’s case make it button down.  Then he sat there using different spells to change the colors.  He decided on black jeans and a nice maroon shirt.  Blaise should like it. 

“Hey Ron… how did you do that with your clothes?” he asked looking at the few outfits that he had that fit.  He had planned to get some more of them, but in all honesty clothes took the backseat to Voldemort finally being defeated. 

Ron looked up at Harry and flashed him a bright smile. “We’ve learned the things in transfiguration and charms. I have no idea why I haven’t thought of it before now and now I don’t understand why wizards would buy more than a few basic outfits.  It would just be so easy to change them the way you want for whatever situation.”

Harry blinked and then returned his best friend’s smile. “Wonderful. I was dreading having to once again repeat my outfits, but now I don’t need to worry about it.  I hate having to wear Dudley’s hand me downs or continuously wear the same outfit and casting lots of cleaning charms.” he said and then focused on transforming his outfit into plain blue jeans and a black t-shirt.  “Though I am curious as to why you changed your clothing. I mean you resigned yourself to spending today doing schoolwork with your partner.  I swear I half expect to walk in on you two making out or something.”

“W-What?!” Ron asked thankful the rising blush gave away to him turning ridiculously pale.

Harry didn’t even look over at him while he searched for another sock.  “You guys just seem to be really close that is all.  I mean you do have to work with him in two classes and NEWT Potions is probably the hardest for you.  Still, it is an amusing little thought that crosses my mind when Draco and I have to meet you two instead of the other way around.”

An inaudible sigh of relief left Ron’s lips.  Both he and Blaise had decided that it wouldn’t be prudent to come out with their relationship right away.  For a moment there, he had thought they had failed in all aspects of that, but no Harry was just having him on.  “You almost had me there for a moment.”

Harry looked up at Ron.  “It’s ok you know.  I wouldn’t be upset with you if you did.”

“Did what?” Ron asked confused as to where this conversation was going. He thought they were just having a simple joke between friends considering how Ron seemed to still hate Slytherins with a passion.  What on earth could Harry be talking about?

“If you had a crush on Blaise, Ron.” Harry said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  Sometimes he wondered if all Ron’s strategic planning in the past had been nothing but highly convenient flukes that just so happened to be in the favor of whatever side Ron was on at the time.  “I mean you two spend a lot of time together, it would only be natural if you developed a crush.”

Ron blinked and quickly changed a bit of his planning for the day, not all of it, but a bit. “Are you saying you are crushing on Draco then, Harry?” he asked the other.

“We, Draco and I, are friends and nothing more.  I can admit the blonde is quite easy on the eyes without crushing on him.  You, however, have not seemed to show much interest in anything except your schoolwork with Blaise.” Harry said as he changed.  He had taken a bit of time to think about his friends and their situations.  Admittedly, this felt a bit wrong since Hermione liked Blaise but Blaise had turned Hermione down according to her so this wasn’t wrong.

Ron could play this one or two ways.  He could admit to possibly having a crush on Blaise, but thinking it was weird and complaining about Slytherins or he could tell Harry that the raven haired male was absolutely bonkers.  “I just want to get good grades and take school seriously for once.” he said seemingly defeated.

“And there is no reason to not concentrate on your grades while trying to date your class partner, Ron.  I want to see my best friend happy as well, you know?  If happiness means that you want Blaise Zabini to pin you to the nearest hard surface and kiss you senseless before it leads to more, then by all means you should work on that.  I mean… having talked with Draco about relationships a lot lately; it is opening up my mind to different perspectives.  I realized that people should find someone they can love and stay with them.  There is no point in being unhappy your entire life because you are afraid of falling in love with someone you never thought you could.” Harry said to him.  “That last sentence was entirely Draco’s words, but I am sure you understand.”

The blush that overtook Ron’s face would have been priceless in any other situation.  He knew that Harry hadn’t seen what happened after Hermione asked out Blaise, but that didn’t matter.  All he could think of was how Blaise held him against that table and kissed him.  His wrists tingled again with just the thought of his boyfriend’s strong grip, body heat, and his tongue exploring his mouth.  This was most certainly not the appropriate time to get lost in fantasies and so he just flopped back on the bed and groaned.  “But… he’s a Slytherin, Harry. I wouldn’t even know how to go about getting closer to him on a friendship level let alone… well… you know.”

Harry rummaged through one of his bags and took out ten galleons.  It wasn’t as if helping his friend would in any way, shape, or form break the bank.  “Here.” he said putting it in one of the black money pouches that he had and tossing it next to Ron on his bed.  “You are meeting him later about your project right?  Why don’t you use some of that stereotypical, Gryffindor courage and ask him out to lunch or something? If he says no and doesn’t give you a reason, I will sit here and listen to you curse all Slytherins to the deepest pits of the muggle world where they can't use ’magic’. Just imagine the horror of being surrounded by people they’d consider ‘mud bloods’ and having to cook and clean with no house elves.  It would be absolutely dreadful for him.”

Ron just looked at Harry a moment and then started laughing.  “Thanks Harry. I needed that. Ok. I will ask him to lunch and see how it goes.  It might be nice, just to be friends with him at least.”

The emerald eyed Gryffindor smiled. “Just have confidence in yourself Ron and I am sure it will be fine. Now let’s hurry up and finish getting ready.  We are supposed to meet them in fifteen minutes in the entrance hall.”

_Blaise and Draco_

“Did you really plan to meet Potter for your project Draco?” Blaise asked while inspecting his fingernails for dirt.  They were currently waiting for their partners to come down from Gryffindor tower.  Blaise was more thinking of his date later with Ron, and figured the redhead strategist would appreciate the gift of more information.

Draco studied Blaise for what seemed like forever, but in reality was about three minutes.  “Do I really need to answer that question, Blaise?  You work with Weasley on a daily basis and you know how I feel about seemingly forced relationships.  I merely offered an out to the situation and he took it.”

Blaise made a noncommittal noise of affirmation as he still looked at his nails. “So you decided to just go along with it even though it was only a momentary thing.  You do realize that thanks to that I have to spend yet another moment in Weasley’s company, right?”

“As if that was a problem for you, Blaise.” Draco said watching the other closely. “Anyone with two eyes and half a brain can see that either you like your partner or he likes you.  I haven’t determined which, but what I don’t understand is that if you two get along so well, why haven’t you made your move yet?”

For Blaise’s part, he hadn’t reacted at all to the news.  He was pretty sure it was obvious to anyone who actually cared to study them to notice that he held some sort of interest in the redhead.  This would be an even better gift for his Gryffindor if he could pull this off.  Oh who was he kidding, he could most certainly do this.  He was after all in Slytherin and hanging out with his boyfriend so much helped him to pick up new strategies almost daily.  “I suppose the timing isn’t right or something.  I can ask him to come eat lunch with me later on since we have to do project shopping anyway.  I don’t think my interest would hold too much if he turns out to be a boring conversationalist though.”

Draco rolled his eyes.  “Blaise, if for one moment you think that I didn’t hear your interest loud and clear in that last statement, you are sadly mistaken.  You never have interest in anyone and so the fact you would even ask him to come and eat lunch is definitely stepping in the right direction.” he said looking around and seeing they were still alone.  “Look, you are my best friend so how about I ask Harry about things that Ron likes and get back to you? We’ll snag your little Gryffindor for you yet.”

Blaise flashed a bit of a smile in thanks before the emotionless, bored mask seemed to come back up. He knew Draco would chock it up to being hard to rid himself of old habits, but truthfully Blaise just didn’t want to start laughing. Ron would love this bit of information about Draco spending more time with Harry to… figure out how to set him up with Ron.  Oh sweet Merlin, this was actually really funny but he was pleasantly distracted by his boyfriend and Harry coming around the corner right on time.

Pleasantries were exchanged with both Harry and Draco shooting their respective best friends knowing glances before they all headed down to Hogsmeade.

_The Hogsmeade Trip_

Once they reached the town, the two pairs went their separate ways.

Ron and Blaise headed to the apothecary and didn’t speak much until after they had made their purchases.  It helped to build the illusions that they had done so far.  Once they left the apothecary, Ron cast a light spell to make their conversation seem about their project to anyone who overhead them.  “So I had an interesting conversation with Harry before we met with you and Draco.”

“Oh? I had a very interesting conversation with Draco as well, but please you first.” he said as they walked along the road.  Blaise couldn’t help but wish it was snowing at the moment.  Even though it was romantically cliché at best, he couldn’t help but imagine Ron walking through the snow with his face a little red from the cold.  He took a deep breath; it would be completely out of character for him to try and hold Ron’s hand while they were walking.  He smiled internally a bit, to think… it’d be him that hated hiding.  Blaise pushed that thought to the back of his mind and focused on the plan.  
  
Ron hadn’t said a word until that moment.  He was studying Blaise and thinking how he would love to walk through Hogsmeade in the winter with the other.  Soft falling snow would look wonderful against his boyfriend’s darker complexion.  They could actually hold hands and not care what anyone else would say about it.  Ron could imagine Blaise stopping them and then bringing him into a soft, sweet, passionate kiss while the snow fell all around them.  Their warmth would come from each other and it would be the most beautiful moment.

He shook his head a bit to clear it of that thought.  They had something else to focus on at the moment and that had to come first before they could out themselves that way.  Ron was thinking of speeding parts of the strategy anyway.  He had an inkling that Harry and Draco would need more than a few prompts to stay together once they got to that point.  Ron had already been studying potions, spells, and other things to keep them where they belonged.  Nothing to alter their feelings of course, those would be completely natural from both of them when he was finished.

“Harry feels as though I have a crush on you.” Ron said trying and failing to hide a smirk that appeared on his face.  “If only he knew, but he did encourage me to ask you out to lunch today.  Apparently, if you turn me down then I can rant about evil Slytherins until I’m blue in the face and he’ll comfort me with thoughts of putting you in the muggle world with no magic.” A couple of soft laughs left Ron’s mouth before he laughed a bit louder at the playful push to the shoulder from Blaise.

Blaise looked around seeing no one from school on the street and then quickly spun partially on his heel and placed a quick kiss on the redhead’s lips.  He pulled back and just looked at Ron as the blush had crept up on Ron’s face.  The Slytherin knew he should pull his gaze away from Ron, but he couldn’t help continuing to gaze into Ron’s eyes.

Ron wasn’t faring much better as he reached up towards Blaise.  The plan was to pull Blaise’s face back down to his and initiate another kiss, but they heard a classmate come out of the store behind Blaise and moved apart.  The disappointment could be seen in both their eyes, but they just turned and kept walking.  “You know I’d never send you into the muggle world with no magic right?” he said softly so only Blaise could hear.

Blaise snickered. “Oh I know.  You’d hex every muggle there for even so much as looking at me.”

“Damn right.” Ron said with a smile as the tension of the previous moment was broken. “So what did Draco speak to you about?” he asked as they continued to walk to a small diner type place for lunch. 

In a bit of a shocking move, Blaise pulled Ron into a side street with less people and just started laughing almost uncontrollably.  Ron had cast spells so no one would notice them or hear Blaise laughing before looking at his boyfriend in both amusement and concern.  He waited while Blaise calmed down, quite happy that only he got to see Blaise this open for now.

“Sorry, but I found it hilarious when he suggested what he did, and had to try much harder not to break down laughing in front of him.” Blaise said as he finally caught his breath.  “Basically, he noticed I am interested in you, but he isn’t sure you are interested in me.”  He paused to let Ron get a few snickers out at that comment.  “Oh yes and to top it all off, he said he was going to spend more time with Harry to find out what you like for me.  As he put it, ‘we’ll snag your little Gryffindor for you yet.’  I was so happy you and Harry came around the corner or I might have lost it.”

Ron was overcome with a fit of giggles. “So he is going to spend more time with Harry, to get you with me? Wow. Maybe this should have been the main strategy all along.  I think we should definitely use this to our advantage.”

“Did I ever tell you how sexy I think it is when you think like a Slytherin?” Blaise asked him as that had to be one of the most Slytherin style ideas Ron ever had.

Ron pretended to think over it. “You… may have mentioned it once or twice.  However, I could say the same with your little bit of Gryffindor recklessness earlier, kissing me in middle of the road and all.”

Blaise just looked away from Ron.  “I have no idea what you are talking about.  I am the epitome of Slytherin cunning.” he said but it was only a moment before they both started laughing.  

A soft hum came from Ron before he kissed Blaise again.  “Maybe we should take a rain check on lunch today and try again another day.  We can try to again next Hogsmeade weekend or just ask for special permission to come to Hogsmeade for our project again from Dumbledore.  There would be less people around and then we could truly have the lunch part of the date.”

All Ron received was a nod before his lips were captured again. His back was pressed against the side of one of the buildings and his arms found their favorite place wrapped around Blaise’s neck.  Blaise pressed closer to Ron gently parting the redhead’s lips with his own.  Blaise’s hands found their place on Ron’s hips with his fingers slipping underneath Ron’s shirt and lightly touching his sides.   Ron gasped allowing Blaise to deepen their kiss.  Soft noises were heard between them as the kiss continued before hearing someone speaking even louder next to their location causing them to break apart and remember where they were.

Ron glanced at who was passing the side street only to see Draco and Harry there talking with one another.  It might have spoiled their plans if they got caught by the two, but neither of them seemed to notice.  He looked back at Blaise who seemed to be contemplating something.

“Here’s another present for your plan, and we can head back up to the castle after this.” Blaise said and whispered a small jinx to cause Harry to fall backwards.  Ron watched eagerly to see how this would play out.  
  
Harry was just talking to Draco about his friendship with Ron, not realizing why Draco might be asking, but figuring Draco might complain later and mention Ron’s good points to Blaise.  He made sure to only speak about the highlights in addition to Slytherin worthy low points in order to give Ron the best chance possible.  It seemed that it would work before he felt something push him back.  Instinctively, he reached on to the first thing he could to steady himself.  It just so happened that the first thing he could use to steady himself was Draco.

Instead, Draco ended up losing his balance and tried to twist around to regain it, but fell… on top of Harry.  He had only just managed not to fall completely on top of Harry by holding himself above him barely.  Both Draco’s hands were on either side of Harry’s form and the two were panting heavily from the fall as they looked at each other.

Ron’s eyes widened and flashed Blaise a ridiculously bright smile before turning and looking at Harry and Draco once again.  Draco had basically turned and accidentally fell in what looked to be between Harry’s legs.  Harry was on the ground wide-eyed, flushed, and panting staring up at Draco and Draco was holding himself above Harry a bit more collected, slightly flushed, and panting.  Ron’s inner fangirl could barely stop from drooling at the hot sight it presented.  When it seemed like they were about to speak to each other, Blaise pulled Ron away.

“That was amazing.” Ron said to Blaise about to kiss him when Blaise stopped him.

“If you thought that was amazing, then wait until you see what I had planned.” Blaise said and called a Zabini family house elf to come to them.  The elf appeared, bowed, and then grabbed both their hands and took them to the school in a pop.

“I hope everything is to your liking sir.” the house elf said and bowed to him.  The elf disappeared with a smile when Blaise nodded in acknowledgement.

Ron pulled himself back together before looking around the room gasping in surprise.  The room was charmed to look like it was snowing around a pretty table set up.  On the table were wine glasses filled with a very light peach flavored drink, and the most delicious looking meal he had ever laid eyes on. There were candles flickering on the table and a dessert on a small table a little bit away from them.  “So… this is why you agreed to skip lunch.  You had already planned this.”

Blaise just shrugged and gave Ron one of the most heartwarming smiles to ever grace his face. “I did tell you to let me plan this date and I wanted it to be special even if we are inside Hogwarts. Do you like it?”  
  
“I love it.” Ron said returning the heartfelt smile.  “This is the best date I’ve ever had.”

Blaise smiled a bit more before taking Ron to his seat and continuing on with their date.

_At Hogwarts_

Ginny Weasley was just sitting there waiting for Harry and Draco to come back from Hogsmeade.  She didn’t mind that Harry hadn’t wanted to go with her, because that gave her the perfect opportunity to finish working on her plan.  The youngest Weasley held a beautifully transfigured box in her hands as she waited for them to arrive.  Harry had to realize this was a good idea towards getting them back on track.

The idea had been pretty simple, but then she had ritualistically cleaned some of it in order to make sure nothing could go wrong.  She was still confused if she should ask, but had told herself that this is what had to be done.  Everyone wanted them together, it would be odd if they suddenly broke up or didn’t at least give this more of a try.

_Everyone else wants you together…. Do you?_

Ginny was trying to ignore that voice in her head, but she questioned if she even wanted to stay with Harry.  There were other guys she found attractive like Dean and Neville, though she was leaning more towards Dean.  What would people think of her if she didn’t stay with Harry or at least try to stay with him though?  Harry might be graduating at the end of this year, but she wasn’t.  She would have to deal with the constant talking, staring, and more because she broke up with Harry.

In all honesty, Ginny wasn’t sure if she could handle that.  The pressures from her peers might make her cave in on herself.  It was also why she researched twice as hard to find a way to get Harry to talk to her.  When she really thought about it, she hadn’t a chance to act like and be a sixteen year old girl during the war.  What sixteen year old girl was completely comfortable with herself at this age?  Sure, she had the Weasley stubbornness and Gryffindor fight in her, but she was also a girl who dreamed of a beautiful wedding day and wondered if her chest was going to get any bigger.

Ginny sighed and kept waiting for the other two to show up so that she could ask Harry.

Harry and Draco had sat like that for at least three minutes before Harry turned his head and pushed Draco off of him.  They had a minor argument about being in that position, but it truly came down to embarrassment to both of them as pointed out by Draco.  It didn’t stop them from being annoyed about the argument and continuing it all the way back up to Hogwarts.  They hadn’t even seen Ginny waiting in the entrance hall until she said something to Harry.

“Harry…could we talk?” Ginny said missing the way that Harry seemed to tense up at the sound of her voice.  “Actually I just have a question to ask you.”

She had blocked Draco out of her mind at the moment even though they were both staring at her.  Harry lightly brushed Draco’s hand in his way of saying he still wanted his friend here just in case.  “What is it Gin?” he asked her.  Harry hoped to whatever deity may listen that she wasn’t  
going to propose to him again. It had been bad and awkward enough the first time.  As long as it wasn’t that, then he was sure that there was nothing she could ask him that would be worse than it.

“Well… I noticed we don’t seem to talk about much of anything.” the younger female Gryffindor stated.  “So I came up with a solution to our problem so you don’t have to actually talk to me about certain things.” 

Harry looked at her with a curious look.  A solution to the problem might actually be quite helpful and maybe they could try again to make things work.  Draco was looking at the rune decorated box however and stepped barely an inch closer to Harry for support.

Ginny held up the box and opened it up to show a bunch of different glass vials.  “In order to fix our problems, all you need to do is put all your most painful and private memories in this box for me to watch.” she said fairly confident in her solution.  She could view the memories without Harry having to talk to her about them and she’d understand more.

Instead she got a unison shout from Harry and Draco in response to it.

“Are you **_fucking_** insane?!”


	13. Chapter 12 - Opening to Possibilities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters are OOC in some aspects or it wouldn't be fanfiction. :) Enjoy.
> 
> There is a kiss at the end of this. Sad Ginny.

“What on earth would make you think that asking me to put my most painful and/or private memories into a box, was a good idea?” Harry asked not even realizing that Draco had spoken with him on the outburst.  Right now, he was just shocked that she would ask such a thing of him.  He understood they didn’t talk much, but did she even think of what would happen if those memories fell into the wrong hands.  He could see the headlines now. 

‘Savior had to sleep in a cupboard’

‘Parseltongue: Things About our Savior Before Hogwarts’

‘Scandal: Savior Kissed Son of Convicted Death Eater’

‘The Savior of the Wizarding World wants to open an _amusement park?_ ’

The possibilities were endless.  All it would take is for one overzealous fan and everything would be posted everywhere.  He’d never have a moment of privacy.  Of course, this was selfishness talking and he needed to get back to the matter at hand.  “Out of all the ideas you could have possibly had, you just had to choose this one and then to ask the way you did… it is like you don’t know me at all and…”

While Harry was going on a tirade mainly due to shock and anger about the question, Draco was watching Ginny.  She seemed completely shocked that Harry would ever respond to her like this.  Draco understood where she was coming from, because he had talked to Harry.  The green-eyed male had basically been going through the motions of expectation much like she was.  They hadn’t any time to figure out if their relationship was something they both wanted.  The moment that Voldemort had been defeated was the moment everyone started talking about them and putting them in the papers together.   He had read the papers and had he never had to work with Potter on a class assignment, he would have thought everything was perfect with the relationship.

After all, it was a relationship built on a seemingly strong foundation and yet he was seeing just how imperfect it was.  They didn’t know each other.  It seemed that Harry had been dating her for a sense of normalcy and may have found her to be reasonably attractive.  Ginny, on the other hand, had been swept up in the fever of dating Harry Potter, the boy who lived.  They shared mutual acquaintances, slightly similar views, but had a complacent acceptable relationship that no one would really question.  If they had gotten married, it would have probably been her going out with friends, buying nice things every now and then, and then her raising children while Harry worked and kept up his name in the ministry if he had wanted to go that route.

In other words, they would have had a pureblood Slytherin marriage!

His parents would have probably eagerly joined Harry’s side if they had known, because there would have been something in common there.  Draco could almost laugh at the irony of this situation.  Someone, whom he used to hate for no real reason at all, would have had the type of marriage that he had come to despise in the past few years or so.  It truly was amusing the way things turned out, but there was nothing amusing about this situation.  As he looked at Ginny again, she looked ready to break down and cry if Harry kept going on his tirade.

“Stop…” Draco said in a soft voice as to not startle the other.  This wasn’t going to end well at all, but maybe for his new found friend’s sake and the fact that Blaise wanted Ron, he could do some damage control.

Harry didn’t seem to hear Draco.  He was just going on an entire list of everything wrong with her idea before he switched to everything wrong with their relationship.  All of the frustration that Harry had felt after her proposal was coming out all at once.

“Stop.” Draco spoke a bit louder but short of screaming.  He knew Harry wasn’t focused on what he was doing to the girl, but that he’d regret it much later.  It was kind of weird.  At an earlier point in his life, he would have loved getting one over on a Weasley, but he had realized how stupid that was.  Who cares what they could afford and what they couldn’t.  Material objects didn’t make one person better than the other.  They all breathed the same air, had blood running through their veins, and they all would eventually cease to exist.  Money didn’t buy happiness and his parents were a shining example of that.

“…I don’t even know why we started dating.  I mean I could understand the threat of Voldemort hanging over our heads and everything associated with that, but to stay together afterwards because some publications wanted us to?!  I realized that maybe it was my fault because I never spoke up much earlier, but you have basically been making me wonder if you belong in an insane asylum lately!” Harry continued not hearing Draco for a second time.

Draco closed his eyes and took a deep breath before yelling, “HARRY STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!”

Harry stopped and looked at Draco.  The other never yelled really nor did he seem to get exceptionally angry at all in the last year.  “Draco… what…?” he asked him and then followed the direction of Draco pointing at Ginny.  He saw his best friend’s sister in tears, clutching the box to her chest, and sitting on her knees on the ground.  “Gin….”

It was all he could get out before Draco cast a silencing charm on him.  “Since I now have your attention, Harry.  I wanted to point out that this is what you were doing before you started apologizing for everything under the sun.  Listen, you two are going to be hurt by your separation.  However, you were about to have the marriage of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy should your relationship have continued.” Draco said satisfied when they both looked at him.

“My parents are the poster children for a good old fashioned complacent marriage. My father worked and maintained the Malfoy family name and my mother knew pretty much nothing about him minus things she had heard in school and so on.  I grew up in a house where my parents spoke maybe 3,000 words to each other in a given year and most of them were ‘Welcome home’ and ‘Goodnight’.  Their words to me were about the same if I was lucky.  I suppose I’ve been questioning a good old fashioned complacent marriage for longer than I had thought.” Draco said as he looked at them both.

Draco bent down and lifted Ginny’s head a bit so their eyes met.  “You care for him, but you aren’t in love with him.  Everyone else wants you to believe and think this way.  I could tell when you proposed to him since you were confused that he said no, but didn’t question if he loved you or not.  Marriage wouldn’t solve that and neither would this idea.  I know you felt it was the best decision because he won’t talk to you, but as I said before if he wanted to then he would have.  Do you know his plans after school? His favorite colors?  His favorite foods or secret desires?” he asked her still bending down at her level.

Ginny looked at Draco and shook her head ‘no’.  “I don’t know any of that. He’s never told me anything and that is why I thought this would work.”

“I know why you thought this would work and for anyone else but Harry, it might have.  Those questions I just asked might seem ridiculous, but they are just simple questions anyone in a relationship should be able to talk about.  As his friend, I know the answers to each of those questions because he talked to me about them.  Communication is a two-way street and you can never force the street to open the other way.  It has to come naturally.” Draco said to her. “Do you understand that and why asking him this was a stupid idea to begin with?”

Ginny swallowed and nodded.  “I understand.  Actually, if I would have thought about it more, then I would have realized that it was a stupid idea before I even decided to do it.  Did you know I wasn’t even upset when he told me that he was going to Hogsmeade with you and not me? I just didn’t mind. I guess that should have told me something.”

Draco nodded and then stood up.  “And you…” he said looking at Harry.  “She was thrown into this situation just like you are.  You both kept it up because people expected it, but that was no reason to completely try and destroy her self-esteem or anything like that.  You are confused as much as she is.”  Draco lifted Harry’s head a bit so their eyes met and he could see the emotions swirling around in them.  He removed the silencing charm from Harry and took a step back.

Harry looked at Draco a moment before smiling a bit and shaking his head.  “I really hate telling you that you are right, but once again you are.” he said before turning to Ginny.  “I’m sorry for how I reacted to this, but…” Harry glanced back at Draco before looking back at Ginny.  “Draco is right. I’ve been wondering how to break up because it didn’t feel like a relationship.  We barely talked, barely touched, and barely had any passion between us.  Without the threat of the war last year, I am not sure if we would have ever dated to begin with.”

“So… you would have never chosen me on your own?” Ginny asked him in a very quiet voice blinking away another fresh wave of tears.  Still it was odd.  She wasn’t necessarily hurt by what he said but mainly that they would have never even attempted to go along with what everyone else wanted from them.   The tears were more because she had wasted all of this time being, as Malfoy had put it, being in a cold, stereotypically Slytherin relationship.  She couldn’t believe how stupid she had been.

There were many things that Draco Malfoy never thought he’d hear.  Harry Potter stating that he had only dated the girl under the threat of Voldemort while angry was one thing, but while he was calm?  If there was a magical book for the worst things to say during a break up, that would probably take the cake.  Now Draco wasn’t one to go off on weird little nonsensical tangents in his head, but really.  Harry basically said Voldemort was the _only_ reason they dated.  He didn’t condone violent break ups, but this is one time he wouldn’t have batted an eye if the redheaded girl slapped him.

Harry had realized what he said, but it was the way he meant it.  Sure, he could have found some way to convey his message without causing Ginny to possibly want to jump from the Astronomy Tower, but sugar coating it might cause another marriage proposal mishap.  “I know that sounds awful Gin, but I felt I owed it to you to be honest.  You would have never been happy with me. I probably would have become an Auror.  We may have built a ridiculously sentimental house in Godric’s Hollow and probably had three kids that we would dote on only to slip back into this complacency when they all went to school or graduated.”

Ginny wiped away the tears that came from Harry’s words.  Once she may have fought against them, but it was completely true.  She might have even gone on to play professional quidditch and just been fine with Harry being gone all the time.  Part of her wanted to fight against what she was saying, but she couldn’t.  “I-I understand Harry.  It will just take some time for me to move on.  I admit I did feel something for you, but I still need to sort out what that was.”

Harry smiled lightly at her and gave her a friendly hug.  “Take your time Gin and I am sure you will find the perfect guy just for you.” he said in a more brotherly type of tone than anything else.  He was still bothered by everything even though breaking up with Ginny made him feel lighter than he had in a while.  The slightly frown appeared on his face as he turned around towards Draco.

The blonde male caught it almost immediately and placed a hand on Harry’s shoulder.  “Hey, come on with me and we will go sit and talk somewhere alright?  Somewhere private to where you don’t have to worry about people overhearing anything.” Draco said out of concern for his friend. 

Harry didn’t say anything and just nodded following along.  He had a lot of things on his mind and a nice quiet place to speak with a good friend sounded wonderful.  A small glance and wave in Ginny’s direction was all he did to tell her goodbye before he turned the corridor.

The young girl had watched their entire interaction with one another and the moment Harry disappeared; she couldn’t help but smile a bit.  Yes, her relationship with Harry was over and she was sad about it, but after seeing that exchange she realized that it didn’t matter.  Her mind drifted back to Draco’s mini speech to her when he asked if she knew the answers to those questions and her response.  It was a piece of Draco’s response to her saying ‘no’ that made her smile now. 

_As his friend, I know the answers to each of those questions because he talked to me about them._

Harry talked to Draco and told him things that, based on their interactions, he hadn’t even told Ron or Hermione. There were no hard feelings or jealous feelings in her mind.  She didn’t know if either of them was inclined that way, but she would be fully supportive of them if it ever happened.  Ginerva Weasley felt lighter than she had in a while as she turned and almost bounced down the hallway in search of Neville or maybe Dean. She knew that even if she did still harbor feelings for Harry, there was no way she could compete (or wanted to compete) with Draco Malfoy.  

_The Astronomy Tower_

Harry and Draco had wound up at the top of the tower since it was quiet and most people were still at Hogsmeade for the day.  They were both sitting on the floor with Harry leaning on Draco’s shoulder and Draco’s head leaning on Harry’s.  Both of their thoughts were filled with thoughts of one another, but more or less the day they had and not anything too risqué.  Draco was just waiting for Harry to start talking knowing that the Gryffindor male was just trying to gather his thoughts together.  Instead, Draco focused his thoughts on their Hogsmeade trip as he saw it played out in his mind.

_Draco walked with Harry trying to figure out how to approach the subject of asking things about Ron.  He had never seen Blaise show interest in anyone or anything before this project and he was determined to help his best friend out.  At the same time, he had to admit it was fun spending time with his new friend.  Both him and Harry seemed to have similar views and opposite views on things that Draco would have never imagined._

_For instance, as they were walking to Hogsmeade, Harry admitted that he thought muggleborn witches and wizards should be placed with pureblood families when their powers were discovered.  Draco felt that family was something that should always stay together regardless of blood and magical ability.  Harry countered his argument with that is how the dark lord came about because he wasn’t placed into an acceptable wizarding family. Draco argued that some of the brightest witches and wizards came from muggle families such as, Harry’s own friend, Hermione Granger._

_They had both stopped and looked at each other before bursting out laughing.  It was actually kind of odd that they had the opposite views of what they had always fought about.  While Harry didn’t agree with the slurs used against muggleborns, he had agreed that it would be better for the magical community to have children raised by the magical community.  Draco felt they should perhaps start a different school to help muggles get better integrated in wizarding customs and everything should be fine.  No one would have ever guessed that from either of them based on all the years they used to be at odds._

_The rest of the day had passed by pretty fine without incident and Draco had fun debating various positions with Harry.  He had even managed to speak to Harry about Ron a bit stating that he couldn’t understand why Ron wouldn’t grow up a bit.  Harry, of course, said he didn’t understand either before being the forever loyal friend and talking about all the good qualities in Ron.  It was almost like he was trying to sell Ron, but just short of that._

Draco felt his cheeks turn a bit red as he remembered the rest of the trip.  He had been thoroughly annoyed with Harry’s reaction, but at the same time, Ginny’s random timing took away that annoyance for pure shock factor.

_All of the sudden, he felt Harry tugging on his robes.  He wanted to ask what was wrong, but the other seemed unable to stop himself from falling.  Draco had turned to grab Harry and help the green eyed male regain his balance. What had ended up happening was that they both fell. He had barely managed to brace his hands on the ground to stop from crushing the other and then time froze or some other cliché thing he thought of at the time._

_They hadn’t been that close since that kissing prank in the Great Hall.  He couldn’t believe that he was once again staring into Harry’s eyes with their mouths barely inches apart.  It was like some cosmic force in the universe was trying to put this idea into their heads, but he had no idea why.  Neither of them had anything but animosity for each other before Draco assisted in Voldemort’s defeat and then nothing until Draco asked Harry to ensure his father would go to Azkaban and then their school project together for DADA._

_Draco hadn’t even been sure why they stayed like that for several moments just staring.  Anyone could walk past at this moment and perhaps tell Harry’s then girlfriend what had happened or spread rumors around the school.  There could have been reporters and more that would have loved to drag Harry’s name through the mud with a so-called scandal even though nothing really happened._

_It felt as if they were like that for twenty minutes, when in reality it was closer to five minutes. It was still one minute too long for them to stay there until Harry made that annoyed comment about him getting up.  Draco had shot back with the fact that it wasn’t him that caused them to fall and they had a spirited debate all the way up to the school.  The decision was to go and work on their project and Draco was going to find out more about Ron for Blaise._

Draco sighed and just closed his eyes as he continued to rest his head on top of Harry’s.  It was strange that they had become friends and how they had become friends.  Who forms a friendship after something as intimate as a kiss?  In that same aspect, who stays friends because of one? They had learned a lot about each other after that day though and Draco did consider Harry a good friend.  It may not have been that long ago, but it was nice to have someone he could be more open with.

Harry heard Draco’s sigh and just continued to rest his head on Draco’s shoulder.  What on earth had possessed Ginny to ask what she did?  Of course, he knew why she did it.  After all, she had explained it to Draco and himself.  It just bothered him that she even thought to do it at all.  She could have asked to talk more, but then she had no reassurance that he would say anything to her.  On top of that, he had been so angry that he may have hurt her if it hadn’t been for Draco.

Draco Malfoy, now there was an enigma.  They were bitter rivals and enemies up to fifth year.  They were indifferent towards one another and perhaps distant companions during the war in their sixth year and now they were friends.  It had been the project that had gotten them to first talk to one another, but the project didn’t necessarily promote friendship.  They truly could have given each other notes on what they had completed and then worked together only when necessary.  A presentation could have been practiced in the company of friends, but he had started to see Draco as a friend before then hadn’t he?

It was the day Ginny proposed and Draco had essentially stopped him from making the biggest mistake of his life.  The same day that he realized that Draco held marriage and relationships at a higher standard than most people their age.  As they got to know each other better, Harry found that some of “Draco’s” views were his and vice versa.   A small smile appeared on Harry’s lips as he thought of their conversations to and in Hogsmeade.  It had been quite an eye opener to find out that Draco had no issue with muggleborns being allowed to stay with family while Harry had thought muggleborns should be taken from their families and raised with magical ones.  Their other conversations had been similar in nature. 

_Harry had changed the conversation to the wands that children receive and whether or not there should be tracking charms on them.  He disagreed with tracking charms on wands saying that it allowed for students to be attacked with no way to defend them from enemies.  It also was that practicing magic was increasingly hard for people if they accidentally hit someone with the magic they were practicing. Should practicing witches and wizards be subjected to disciplinary review due to simple protection or locking charms?_

_Draco said that they should, but he disagreed even with Draco’s rather good points. What if some 14 year old was pissed enough at his parents to accidentally cast an unforgivable on them?  How would the ministry be able to track the person who did it?  Harry had pointed out that they could just do it when they are adults, but Draco argued that sometimes traits like that appeared much earlier on such as the case with Voldemort._

_They had spent the next fifteen minutes arguing their points before the conversation changed to that of their friends.  Harry saw it as a perfect opportunity to talk about Ron.  He had added bits about Hermione naturally, but in all honesty he was trying to give Ron an advantage with trying to catch Blaise’s attention.  If Draco told Blaise about the meeting, then there might be more of a chance for his best friend to find happiness._

_He hadn’t planned on falling and if truth were to be told, he only grabbed on to Draco because of how close the other was to him.  His hope was to steady himself and when Draco tried to help, he thought that they would avoid falling.  It was just not to be.  He fell and to add awkwardness to this situation, Draco fell with him… right between his legs.  Anyone could have seen them and thought something less than decent was going on between the two friends._

_Harry didn’t move.  He couldn’t move.  He didn’t seem to be able to tell Draco to move.  Here they were in a situation similar to the one he admittedly thought about from time to time. Their lips were barely inches apart and they would have probably been kissing if not for Draco’s quick thinking.  Oh he could just imagine Ron’s laughter at him tripping and being sprawled out and panting beneath Draco-flipping-Malfoy. However, he kept staring at Draco and both their thoughts were probably similar to one another’s or something.  This ‘spell’ had to be broken._

_Without thinking much, he told Draco to get off of him and made some odd comment about it that he couldn’t remember.  Harry’s voice had been filled with annoyance and that started their next debate all the way back up to Hogwarts and then Ginny…_

Harry slowly released the breath that he was holding.  “Was it wrong to break up with her like that after I made her cry?” he asked Draco. 

“It would have been wrong if you tried to stay with her because of it.  Tell me Harry, was it truly fair to either of you to be forced together?  I know you know the answer to that question.  You’ve told me the answer to that question before, but it seems you once again need to be reminded that your relationship with her was more like poison without an antidote in sight.” Draco said still not moving from his position.

“No. I still shouldn’t have made her cry though. Thank you for stopping me from doing that. I don’t think I could have ever forgiven myself if I had hurt her irreparably.” The raven haired male sighed.

“Irreparably?  Well, it does seem like my influence is starting to rub off on you, Potter.” Draco said with light teasing behind his words.  “Pretty soon, you will start using words like ‘exquisite’ or something.”

Harry snorted.  “Like what? To tell you that you are being an exquisite pain in the arse, Malfoy?” he said with a smile breaking out on his face.

Draco thought about that sentence for a bit.  “I am not quite sure it works in that sentence, but not a bad effort.  Maybe you should start with smaller words.  You know like ‘cat’.”  A smile began to take over Draco’s face as well. 

An ‘hmph’ noise left the mouth of one Harry Potter.  “I will have you know Draco that I have a wonderfully humongous vocabulary.” he told him having purposefully used the word ‘humongous’ when there were probably a thousand other ways to say that sentence and in much better context.  

There was silence. 

It stretched on for a few seconds before both Harry and Draco began laughing together.  The laughter was washing away all of the strangeness of today.  They were not thinking of their schoolwork, their futures, or even their friends.   At this time, it was only them and the astronomy tower having fun like two teenagers who hadn’t seen enough fun in the past few years of their lives.  After the craziness of the past few weeks, they deserved this moment to unwind and just enjoy being students and friends.  There were no houses up here, no overbearing parents or guardians, no friends, not even the swish of Snape’s obviously enchanted robes. 

Therefore it made perfect sense to someone like Ron why the two had gotten closer.  The next moment would have had Ron squealing for joy and groaning about clichés.  It would have had Ginny smiling and hiding back in the shadows before going off somewhere.  Hermione would have been shocked and talked to Pansy about what she had seen in hopes it might be able to convince Blaise.  Pansy would have talked to her about it and tried to form a strategy with Hermione even if she felt Blaise’s interest was someone else.  Blaise?  Well Blaise would have been explaining to Ron how sometimes clichés worked for ‘the greater good’ before laughing and reminding him that they still had planning to do.  This was an accident from an emotionally charged two weeks.  Ron would only respond with how he wished they were together already.

The laughter died down finally and they both fought to catch their lost breath.  It didn’t take that long for them to calm down and look upon each other with smiles on their faces.  A similar yet different thought passed between two minds.  Why couldn’t relationships be as easy and as comfortable as friendships?  The sun was setting and they both got up to go down to dinner together with Draco helping Harry off the floor.

“Thank you.  I needed that.” Harry said stretching his arms over his head and looking at Draco.  “After everything that has gone on in the past few weeks or so, I really needed to laugh and not think about anything else.  Everything with Ginny, Ron, Hermione… you… there is just so much going on.  I guess I shouldn’t have hoped for a particularly normal year.”

A soft hum filled the room.  “Ron is your best friend who is trying to find his way.  Hermione wishes to have a normal ‘girl’ experience, but I would hope she doesn’t try to get pregnant or something.  It would be awful if she tried to have that experience before graduating outside of a committed relationship of course.  Ginny just needs a moment to find herself and realize what she wants.” Draco said looking at Harry.

“As for me… well… our story is just beginning is it not? There is no point in obsessing about a future that we haven’t gotten even close to starting.  Right now, we could decide we hate each other and leave this tower casting hexes.  We could decide that we annoy each other and to end our friendship here and now without ever getting to build that amusement park or find out what each other’s favorite ride is.  We could decide right now that this friendship means more to us than our friendships with others and call it some kind of exclusivity to each other when it comes to friends.  We could decide many things in the next moment or in the next two days.  So don’t stress so much over me.”

Harry looked at Draco after his words.  “Why is it that you always seem to know the right things to say?” he asked.

“Who knows? Perhaps you just think that now because of the stress you are under.” Draco answered him.  “Or maybe I just say the things you’ve always wanted to hear.  I am not sure.”

“I hate losing friends and so if we ever get in a fight, then let’s promise to hear each other out and see if we can settle things without ending our friendship. Ok?” Harry asked Draco nervous about his answer.

Draco blinked and just stared at Harry.  “I don’t like losing friends either.  So if we fight, I promise that we will hear each other before hexes are thrown.” he said with a smile.

Harry smiled at that moment.  Part of him felt bad because he had never thought to make a promise like that with Ron when he should have, but the other part of him was happy to have been able to make such a promise with a new friend and not be too afraid of his thoughts.  Of course, back in fourth year, Harry had still been trying to be comfortable with who he was and now he was more confident and looking forward to his future.  “Then Draco Malfoy… I think it’s time we had our first fight.”

Draco raised an eyebrow and looked at Harry.  “And what would we fight about?” he asked.

Harry stepped closer to Draco. “This…” he said before wrapping his arms around Draco and kissing him.


	14. Chapter 13 - In Plain Sight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters are OOC in some aspects or it wouldn't be fanfiction. :) Enjoy.
> 
> Warnings: A bit of M/M action. Some teasing. A light bit of F/F. Nothing heavy with F/F however you don't need glasses for this one.

Draco’s eyes widened before they slid shut and he wrapped his arms around Harry’s waist kissing him deeply. This felt better than their first forced kiss and it was probably because they were both willing participants in this one. He moved them slightly, pressing Harry up against the wall as the kiss continued. Just before his tongue slipped into Harry’s mouth, he pulled back with his hands on Harry’s shoulders to keep them apart and panting.

“Harry…” Draco said as he looked at him. “You don’t want to do this.  You are upset and you are confused.  Don’t even try to lie to me and say you are fine.  I can see it in your eyes.  You just want to feel some sort of comfort in your current vulnerability.”

The Gryffindor looked at Draco and Draco’s appearance.  The normally calm Slytherin was flushed and panting.  His lips were slightly swollen and his hair was a bit messy as if he had a minor electric charge running through it.  His tone… well Draco was trying to recover it, but Harry heard the slight breaks in the usually cool and collected demeanor of one of his newest friends.   Thinking back on all of the conversations that they have had recently, he remembered something Draco said about life and relationships in general.

“Actually, I am not worried about that vulnerability.  After all, it was you who stated several times that sometimes it is better to take a chance than to just float along in hopes of something good passing by at a rate you can grasp it.” Harry said looking into Draco’s eyes. “Unless you don’t believe half of the things you’ve said.”

“Or you don’t respect anything I’ve said.” Draco said stepping back from Harry. “After everything I’ve stated about relationships, you just kissed me not even a full hour after you broke up with Ginerva.  The thing about lasting relationships is that both partners take in the other’s feelings.  If I wouldn’t do this to you, why would you do it to me? I’ll see you later to work on our project and talk, but think about what just happened for me, please?”

With those words, Draco left the astronomy tower and disappeared to the dungeons to clear his head.  Why did he kiss Harry back? He wouldn’t let this ruin their friendship, but he was admittedly a little more than confused.  Well, he doubted it would come up for a while.

~In Gryffindor Tower~

Ron was lying on his bed in Gryffindor tower smiling about his date with Blaise.  He was happy that he had the control to give Ginny a hug and tell her that he’d have a stern talking to with Harry.  Ginny had told him not to, saying that Harry would never look at her in the same way.  When he had asked why, his little sister replied only with Draco Malfoy.  Ron thanked Blaise for the fact that he didn’t just start dancing in front of his sister.  He had just gone up to his bed and flopped on to it smiling about that development and the end of his date.

_Lunch was finished and that included the dessert that had been prepared for them both. They sat there sipping their drinks and engaging in small talk about future plans and other random things.  There was laughter and then Ron decided to be a bit bold and show some of his more Gryffindor-ish traits. He got up and went over to Blaise sitting on his lap and kissed him._

Ron smiled even more as he remembered.  Blaise had ended up widening the chair a bit so he could settle more on his lap.  Ron was sure he lost his shirt at some point during that and was even more certain of quite a few well-placed hickeys all over his chest. If Blaise didn’t have some more proper pureblood ideals, Ron was pretty sure they would have ended up losing their claims to innocence this afternoon.  He was rubbing the places he had love bites when Harry burst into the room.

His best friend hadn’t even seen him on the bed and Ron took this moment to watch him.  Harry seemed agitated and almost sad.  Ron frowned a moment as he sincerely hoped that Harry didn’t scare Draco away or something.  He would have to ask Blaise later on how Draco’s mood was today.  “Hey Harry…” Ron said sitting up.  “Is there something wrong?”

Harry looked at Ron a moment before lying down on his own bed.  “I’m an idiot. Also, I am not sure how to tell you this, but I broke up with Ginny.  We just didn’t seem to fit together when I really thought about it.  I’m sorry.”

Ron sighed.  “It… It is alright I suppose.” he commented sounding like the sad friend and brother he should be instead of the bubbly, excited, scheming friend he was.  “You shouldn’t feel too upset about it. I mean she didn’t hex you and so I suppose that is a good thing.”

“She asked me to put my memories in a box so she could view them at her leisure.” Harry said with a bit of bitterness creeping into his voice.

 _I love you so much right now, Gin.,_ Ron thought as his mouth dropped open as was the expected response. “She asked you to WHAT?!” he exclaimed in shock.  His sister really did a lot of his work for him in breaking them apart.  Perhaps he should see if someone else was interested in her or get her an anonymous gift in thanks.

“Exactly.  Still that isn’t even the most awkward thing that happened today.  I hope I didn’t destroy my friendship because of it. I mean it was just… it seemed like the right moment and with everything that happened…” Harry trailed off trying not to concentrate so much on it.  He truly needed to figure out what exactly happened and if he could talk to Ron about it. Draco was a Slytherin and, wait, actually Ron couldn’t say anything about his interest in a Slytherin since he had a crush on Blaise Zabini. This might actually help Ron to be a bit braver in trying to have a relationship with the other.  “Ron… I am going to tell you something and I understand if you hate me for what I am about to say.”

Ron looked concerned.  He most certainly would want to strangle Harry if he did something to go against all of his hard work to get the other with Draco.  He didn’t fancy having to change plans because Harry wanted to be twice as unpredictable as he usually was.  “What is it, Harry? You know you’re my best friend and it would take a lot for me to be upset.”

Harry gave him a bit of a smile. “Well you see, Draco was there when Ginny asked me. He helped to diffuse the situation, but I was still upset and so he took me to the Astronomy tower to talk about everything. We ended up joking around a little bit and then… then I kissed him.”

The redhead hoped his expression was one of shocked horror instead of delight and giddiness. “You kissed Draco Malfoy?! Not only that, but not even that long after you broke my sister’s heart?” he asked seemingly pissed but trying to calm down.  “Alright, I suppose if you were going to go for a guy, then he isn’t bad to look at.  Not my type of course.”

There was a moment of silence before Harry started laughing a bit.  “Of course not.  You like them tall, dark, and handsome, quite literally.  Do you dream of Blaise whispering how much he wants you in Italian?”

Now, Ron had not actually thought of that until just this minute.  He could just imagine Blaise having him pinned to a table and speaking Italian and dear sweet fucking Merlin…  Ron coughed to clear his head and concentrate on the problem at hand.  Damn Harry and damn that knowing smirk on his face.  He would be the one wearing the smirk once Draco decided to take Harry during a Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Draco would be telling Harry to hold on to the broom unless he wanted to fall all while making the smirking git scream ‘Slytherin’s always win’ and Draco just to complete the fantasy would be all ‘Good little Gryffindor bitch’.

Ron might actually push to make that one happen if he had to accept constant teasing that led to highly erotic thoughts about him and Blaise.  “You would just love to see that wouldn’t you, Harry?” he rolled his eyes losing control of his emotions just a moment.

Harry smirked in a way that would make Lucius Malfoy envious for years on end. “Oh yeah… I’d totally love to see Blaise spread you out on a table like his own personal feast and make you beg for a taste of Italian, if you catch my drift.”

Ron’s jaw dropped as he stared at Harry with a blush red enough to match his hair.  Oh… he was so going to love it, Draco taking the bastard until he couldn’t walk, scream, or remember who the hell Voldemort was.  He really needed to regain control of this situation and quickly.  Otherwise, he’d end up spending the entire conversation in a state of arousal before running off and begging Blaise to say ‘Fuck pureblood customs’ and take him against every wall he could.  Harry was not going to turn him into his vision of Harry!

“The _kiss,_ Harry… remember we were talking about you _kissing_ Draco Malfoy and why you think you are an idiot.” Ron said giving up on getting the images out of his head.  Blaise was never going to let him live this down once he reported to him what happened from Harry’s end so they could plan the next phase.  It was obvious the liking aspect had progressed further on Harry’s end and now they needed to get Draco to see the truth as they both needed it as well.

Harry sighed and closed his eyes.  “I told him we should have our first fight and then kissed him.  It was all good until he stopped and reminded me that I had just broken up with Ginny and how I just wanted support.  I felt a bit guilty by just forcing the kiss on him and he…”  Harry stopped talking and opened his eyes. “That sneaky bastard, he totally kissed me back! He made me feel like I just kissed him and did something he didn’t want, but I am pretty sure I did not back up against that wall on my own.  He definitely wanted to kiss me back and was probably just mad that I beat him to it or something!”

 _Now this he could work with_ , Ron thought as he looked at Harry. “So… your back was up against the wall and you two were kissing, not even an hour after you broke up with Ginny.” Ron said slowly as if he was trying to make sure he understood what was going on.  A sigh left Ron’s lips and he shrugged.  “Well, what do you plan to do now?”

“Absolutely nothing.  I am worried that I might scare him off and I am not even sure that Draco is into guys.  I think it was just the moment and a momentary lapse in judgment.” Harry said sighing as he looked at his best friend.  “I am not sure if I even like Draco in that manner.  I may have just wanted to kiss him and nothing more and then what he said….”   Harry frowned again biting his lip.

“Well Draco said that if he wouldn’t do that to me, then why would I do it to him.  I suppose I didn’t pay much attention to it, and he asked me to think about it before we meet to work on our project later.  Remus does want us to turn in our rough drafts in a couple days after all.  I don’t know… I just feel like I may have messed up our friendship or something,” Harry finished and nervously picked at his bed coverings.

This would be a challenge, Ron thought.  How could he fix something that might not even be broken?  He could use his budding relationship with Blaise to assist even further, but it could inevitably cause a bit of backlash.  He had plans on how to keep them together, but he needed to make this final push to get them more interested.  Ron knew he didn’t want their relationship to be based on lust, but instead mutual respect and love for one another.  He knew they could be great, but they needed to see it.

It was time to figure out a new strategy and tactic now that Harry was entertaining the thought of being with Draco Malfoy.   There was also an underlying worry that he may not be able to get Harry to stay with Draco.  After all, if he and Draco ever broke up then Harry might decide to run off and kiss someone else and decide to date them.  He shouldn’t feel that his best friend would ever do something like that, but he was curious  if it would happen again.   He supposed he could speed up another part of his strategies and then move slower on the second phase of his brilliant plan.  Blaise didn’t know about that part, but he would cross that bridge when they came to it. 

“I still don’t understand your want for him, but why not just talk to him or…” Ron grinned.  “Or you could keep your relationship strictly professional.  A few small hints here and there and voila! Almost instant payback for the fact he made you feel guilty.  I bet his Slytherin mind won’t even be able to comprehend the brilliance of this plan.”

Harry looked at Ron and raised an eyebrow.  “Somehow, I don’t think that will work.  Draco is actually quite intelligent.  I think he’d figure out something like that really quickly.”

 _Oh yes. He’s so intelligent that he doesn’t realize I am pushing you two together nor that I am already dating Blaise._ Ron thought barely managing not to roll his eyes. “He might. Or…or he wouldn’t be expecting that from you.  After all, you said he wanted you to think about it and that could be your solution to everything! I don’t really know Malfoy or anything and don’t really want to, but…”

“But you will have to if you manage to snag Zabini.” Harry said looking at Ron pointedly.  “After all, they are best friends or close acquaintances.  If you want to get to Zabini then you should probably stop having that odd look on your face when you say Malfoy or Draco.”

Ron rolled his eyes then.  “I am sure that my dislike of all things Malfoy is well known even if I seem to be focused on other matters these days.  We are trying to figure out if you ruined your friendship remember?  If he kissed you back then you probably didn’t.   I still say my plan is pure genius and you should do it, but I suppose if Hermione….” Ron was happy to have said her name without twitching.  “If she were here, then she’d probably say ‘You’re acting so foolishly Harry. If you are worried about your friendship, just go apologize to him and explain your actions’ or some such rot, but it is nowhere near as fun as my idea.”

Harry laughed.  “Well I can agree with you there.  I think I am going to go out flying and leave you to thoughts of Blaise lick-“

“Finish that sentence Harry and I might hex your balls off.” Ron said blushing as brightly as his hair.  The last thing he needed to remember was how good earlier felt while Harry was still in the room.   “I’ll probably find him anyway to work on the project and maybe I can summon up some courage to try and get to know him better.  I’ll probably see you with Draco later at the usual place.”

Harry nodded and left.  The moment Ron was sure Harry was gone, he threw up a silencing charm and screamed.  Why did Harry make this so damn hard? For once, couldn’t his friend just sit back and let things happen.  No. Of course not.  He wouldn’t be the Harry that he cared for if he did, but some of Draco’s influence should have rubbed off on him.  Now he had even worse problems to figure everything out.  He needed Draco to think of Harry as not only attainable, but someone that needed to be molded to his way of life a bit more.  

For a moment, Ron was relieved he wouldn’t have to fully convince Harry of his attraction to Draco because it eliminated part of the problem.  Instead, he just needed to convince Draco of the opposite and convince Harry that he wasn’t going bonkers.  It should be simple, but he has already had hang-ups in his plans.  The only thing that worked was that Harry apparently loved kissing Draco and his sister seems to be positively insane.

There was also the Hermione issue.  He didn’t believe for one moment that she had given up on the idea of dating Blaise.  Ron could safely say that he didn’t think Blaise would cheat on him with a muggleborn witch, but she might try anything to sway the argument in her favor.  His thoughts focused on a double date once he made sure that Harry and Draco got together and maybe he’d make out with Blaise in front of Hermione just to rub it in her face.  

Ron groaned.  He was getting off track again.  What he needed to focus on was making Draco realize he wanted to show Harry off in some way?  How though?  His father was in Azkaban with no chance of getting out.  It meant that Draco was now Lord Malfoy or some other such nonsense and based on Draco's relationship advice; he was going to be selective with partners. The only lead he had to go on was that Draco had kissed Harry twice and the second time did not involve his lovely little trinket.

There was also the issue of Draco not seeming to care much for a lot of the pureblood traditions he had been raised with.  The old Draco may have loved having Harry wanting him, but the new one focused more on thoughts and feelings.  Besides Defense Against the Dark Arts and Quidditch, Harry needed to show other talents that Draco might actually think interesting or be amazed with.

Draco obviously exceled in Potions and… that’s it!  He needed to speak with Dumbledore, but it might be a fun challenge, post war.  A cooking contest!  Ron knew enough about Harry’s time with the Dursleys to know that Harry could cook.  While Draco may now be privy to certain facts about Harry, he may be impressed to find that Harry could cook for them if they were ever stuck somewhere with no house elves or Merlin forbid that Hermione’s S.P.E.W fight actually ended with house elves wanting to be freed.  Draco would know that he would have a fantastic lover who would be able to cook for them and their future family.

Ron was sure that Dumbledore would probably want to promote people learning about muggle ways in case they moved outside of the Wizarding World.  It would just be about organizing the idea and while strategizing was his strength, organizing was not.  Perhaps Blaise would have some ideas on how to enter this.  They would state that people had to enter in pairs and with someone from another house to further promote house unity after the war.

Everything could be set up with magic and then they would all have to cook the muggle way.  There could even be a prize of galleons or a trip to Hogsmeade one weekend for the first, second, and third place winners.  Actually, if the prizes were enticing enough he could get many people to join including Harry.  Harry would obviously ask the only other person from a different house that he was super comfortable with talking to and Draco would have another reason to select Harry as the person he wanted to be with.

It was a perfect way for Ron to put his plans back on track.  With those thoughts and a smile on his face, he left to find Blaise and go over it with him.

~In Pansy’s Room~

“I just don’t get it.  We’ve gone over everything and I even wore this outfit when he came back to the Slytherin Common Room and he didn’t even seem to notice.  I wonder if he had gotten into a fight though since his robes were slightly ruffled.” Hermione said as she laid on the Slytherin girl’s bed.  “Pansy, what if I am just not attractive?”

Pansy looked at her and then shook her head.  “I doubt it is that.  Perhaps he was just pre-occupied or we need to try another outfit.” she stated as she started looking through the clothing on the bed.

Hermione stretched causing the corset she was wearing to barely stay on her chest.  “What if Blaise thinks I’m too innocent or something?” she said while shaking her head at the outfit that Pansy showed her.

 _This could be interesting,_ Pansy thought as she put the clothes on.  “Maybe you just need a bit of practice then.”

A scandalized look crossed Hermione’s face.  “I am not going to sleep around just to get Blaise!” she said confident that the silencing ward on Pansy’s room wouldn’t let anyone hear the conversation they were having.

The Slytherin girl rolled her eyes.  “That isn’t what I meant Hermione. I meant like kissing and how you react to it.”

A frown appeared on Hermione’s face.  “How am I supposed to practice something like that when I don’t know any guys that would be ok with being a practice dummy?”

“Who said it had to be a guy?” Pansy asked as she moved closer to the brown haired Gryffindor. She had one leg in place close to between Hermione’s legs.  Hermione opened her mouth to say that she was trying to get a guy but felt Pansy’s fingers against her lips. “Most girls don’t go practicing on guys when they are trying to get one anyway.”

In one swift movement, Hermione was on her back with Pansy lying on top of her.  One of Pansy’s legs was between her legs and Pansy’s hands held down her wrists.  Hermione was shocked and gazing up into Pansy’s eyes as her chest rose and fell in the tight fitting garment.

“Ready to practice?” Pansy whispered with a soft smirk before leaning down to capture Hermione’s lips with her own.


	15. Chapter 14 - Confusions and Affirmations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters are OOC in some aspects or it wouldn't be fanfiction. :) Enjoy.
> 
> Disclaimer: Some M/M action. Some confusion. Ginny-warning! Some kisses.

* * *

Draco was pacing in his room when Blaise found him.  He hadn’t noticed anything new about the other, but at the moment his mind was on the Astronomy Tower.  What on earth was going on with him?  Of all the things he could do to possibly screw up his future, potentially leading Harry on was not one he thought he would do.  It wasn’t that he had to worry about Death Eater stigma following him around, but it probably wouldn’t do to have rumors starting of him and Harry when nothing concrete was there.

_Do you want something more concrete?_

The traitorous thought was shoved out of the blond Slytherin’s mind the moment it had entered.  While they had been getting to know one another, there were just some lines that shouldn’t be crossed so quickly in a relationship.  This was one of them.  Perhaps in the past, Draco would have reveled in the knowledge that he had Harry Potter up against the wall desperate and begging for more of his touch, but that wasn’t how he was now.

“Draco?” Blaise asked as he walked further into the room.

Draco froze only a moment wondering why he had dropped his defenses enough to not notice Blaise’s presence in the room.  It was but a breath later that he was composed and facing his best friend.  He needed to ask how his potential date with Weasley had gone anyway.

“Blaise.” he said offering a bit of a smile before sitting down.  “How did the Hogsmeade trip go?”

A simple glance at Draco before Blaise sat down told the blond all he needed to know about the date.  It hadn’t gone well, but Draco hoped for Blaise’s sake that it would turn out better.  “Let me guess, he started spouting that all Slytherin’s were evil and ruined you asking him out.”

“No. That isn’t what happened at all.  Instead, he focused mainly on our project and I couldn’t fully bring myself to ask him because of his past reactions to Slytherins.  Of course, we were able to talk about minor other things, but nothing too concrete.  I accidentally made a comment about money and he was less than pleased of course.” Blaise sighed.  He had made up this part of the plan because it could get Harry and Draco talking much more.  Ron didn’t have an issue with anything, except for Granger hitting on him.  He’d deal with making Ron realize that he was no longer a Weasley, but a Zabini later.

Draco shook his head.  “You really have to watch what you say around him.  We have all grown up, but that is one red head with an extremely fierce temper.  I’d rather not have my best friend becoming a woman anytime soon.” he said with a light chuckle.

“Oh, I’m sure I will be able to make him mine before he decides to castrate me.” Blaise said to him.  “Now Draco how did your day go?”

“Besides seeming to slip into my old habits of fighting with Harry?” Draco asked. “It went quite well.  We talked more about relationships, had a moment of quite literally falling on top of each other, and… a kiss in the Astronomy Tower.”

The dark skinned Slytherin raised an eyebrow as he looked at Draco’s face. “You were kissing Harry Potter in the Astronomy Tower while he was still dating the rather insane female Weasley?”

Another shake of blond hair followed that statement.  “Actually, he had just broken up with the female Weasley and decided that he needed comfort in that way.  At first I was shocked, then I kissed back, and now I am upset and confused.  You know my thoughts on quickie relationships or improper grieving times when it comes to break ups.  I feel thoroughly disrespected and yet I didn’t stop the kiss.  I actually kissed him back.”

“So you feel as though Potter thoroughly disrespected everything you said and it didn’t stop you from dominating him in a kiss?” Blaise asked clarifying with a lightly piqued expression on his face.  “Is there something you are not telling me, Draco? Did you enjoy kissing him?  After that day in the Great Hall, I just figured you would never do something like that again.”

Draco slumped partially forward with his elbows on his legs and head in his hands.  There was so much that he should be doing right now, but he just groaned in frustration.  “That kiss in the Great Hall was a prank that just so happened to catch both Harry and I in it.  The Astronomy Tower was a moment of weakness that should have never happened.  I admit that I took over the kiss.  If I had even an ounce of control left, you probably would have heard Harry from the Astronomy Tower.”

A chuckle left Blaise’s lips.  “Are you attracted to him, Draco?”

Draco slowly looked up at Blaise not moving his head from between his hands.  If Blaise was honest with himself, the blond looked quite attractive looking at him like that.  It would be infinitely more attractive if Ron looked at him like that however.   “Well are you, Draco?”

A soft bite to a light rose colored lip was the prelude to the answer.  “I do not doubt that Harry and I could have fun before our school year is up should we explore deeper into those embraces.  On the other hand, there is nothing to signify a lasting relationship and I do not fancy getting into something completely fleeting. There would have to be something worth getting into a relationship for.  A simple relationship because of teenage hormones isn’t any more my style than it is yours, Blaise.”

Blaise shrugged.  “Fair enough.  I can’t say that I haven’t been thinking of ways to get Ron.  He is the only one that has so thoroughly intrigued me for some reason.” Blaise said as to not give away too many of Ron’s secrets to Draco.  “I am sure you remembered what I stated when we were younger about finding someone who intrigues me.”

Draco sat up straighter and smiled at his best friend.  “Oh I remember, but I am not sure how easy of a time that you will have in convincing him to agree to the type of  engagement that you are planning. Of course, you have to get together with him before you plan on proposing, but knowing you everything is already planned out and you are waiting for the right moment.”

“I wouldn’t be a Slytherin if I didn’t wait for the right moment to strike.” Blaise said with amusement shown in the quirk of his lip and crease of his eyes.

“Truer words have never been spoken my dear friend.” Draco said before sighing.  “As for the more forward answer to your question, Harry is quite attractive, but since I see no other relationship qualities besides listening and DADA, I don’t plan to date him.  Attraction is only part of the puzzle to a lasting relationship.  There has to be more there or it is not worth exploring.”

Blaise nodded and switched the subject as to not make Draco suspicious.  He wasn’t sure how Harry wasn’t suspicious of Ron, but he knew that Draco would think about why he was asking too many questions.  “Do you plan to work on the project later? I am probably going to meet Ron earlier so we can work on the potion for Professor Snape’s class.”

“I finished that Potion ages ago.  Of course, it helps that the Hufflepuff I was paired with doesn’t seem to mind allowing me to lead and take most of the project over.  They are going to write the paper, while I work on the Potion.  I figured it was a win-win situation.” Draco said and stood up.  “I think I am going to head to the library and do some research before meeting up with Harry later.  Why don’t you go find your Gryffindor and try to sweet talk your tongue down his throat?”

Blaise rolled his eyes and stood up as well. “I doubt it will take much talking. I can’t imagine that he is getting any from Granger.  I’ll just have to find a way to distract him long enough for me to kiss him.”

“If anyone could pull that off Blaise, it is most certainly you.” Draco said and left.

-In the Usual Meeting Spot-

Ron was waiting patiently for Blaise to show up since he couldn’t find him anywhere.  He had figured that Blaise was still in the Slytherin dorms and therefore came here to work on the project.  His conversation with Harry from earlier was leaving him feeling a bit unsettled as he couldn’t keep his mind off his sexy boyfriend.  It shouldn’t have been that hard, but perhaps he needed to take time out later for a solo session while imaging him and Blaise.

Yes.  It was quite possible that it would work.  Another thing on his mind was the outline for the cooking contest that he would be presenting to Dumbledore in a little while. It was a perfect excuse for more interaction between the two soul mates.  Yes, he knew soul mates were almost like figments of someone’s sweet and yet twisted imagination, but Draco and Harry belonged together. 

Ron felt a soft tingle alerting him that someone was close by and smiled when he saw Blaise come into the room.  For a moment, they just stared at each other until Blaise came over and kissed him soundly on the lips.  Ron gasped and broke the kiss casting three spells in rapid succession.  The door was shut and locked, a silencing charm was put up, and a warning for them in case someone was approaching the door.

The moment he put the wand down, he felt Blaise’s lips on his once more.  A moan left his lips as he was pulled from the chair he was in and hoisted up on to the table.  Blaise was standing between his legs and sliding his tongue between Ron’s lips.  The Italian male had stripped off his outer robe and unbuttoned the shirt he was wearing underneath it.  Their kiss broke and Ron drunk in the sight of Blaise shirtless not even realizing that Blaise had unbuttoned and removed his shirt.  The first touch of skin on skin was exhilarating as they pressed their chests together and continued to their heated make-out session. 

“Oh.. god.. Blaise…” Ron breathed out in the mere seconds before another, slightly louder moan left his lips when Blaise’s talented mouth began to nibble and kiss his neck.  The bites and kisses weren’t enough to cause hickeys, but it definitely was enough to keep Ron in this blissful state of arousal.  He couldn’t help that his hips moved rubbing against Blaise in such a delicious way.

A moan from Blaise’s lips sent shivers down Ron’s spine.  He knew that they wouldn’t go much further than their release and he could only begin to imagine how good it would feel to have Blaise inside of him.  There was no Harry or Draco at this moment, only Blaise and the beautifully paced torture to release.  

The way they rubbed against each other was almost as good as if they were naked and stroking one another simultaneously. Ron could feel his arousal pressed against his pants and Blaise’s stomach while Blaise’s arousal seemed to be pressed just under his and against the curve of his arse.  Was Blaise moving faster or was Ron losing his mind to the pleasure Blaise was giving him at the moment? 

Would their first time together be as explosively subtle and passionate as this was? Ron was panting more now and he could hear Blaise’s breathing become more labored as he pulled Blaise into a kiss as he came.  Blaise seemed to swallow the noise and shuddered against Ron as he climaxed as well.  They sat there holding each other for a few moments just basking in the sweet afterglow of mutual satisfaction.

~In the Library~

Draco was reading over particular protection spells for his and Harry’s presentation when he was approached by Ginny.  At first, he was confused as to why she was approaching him and perhaps wondered if anyone had in fact seen his second kiss with Harry.  It wasn’t that he had an issue with her coming up to him, but it did surprise him after everything earlier today.

“Is there something that I would be able to assist you with Ginerva?” Draco asked calmly and respectfully.

The youngest Weasley girl stared at him for a few more minutes as if she was trying to figure out exactly how to say what was on her mind. Draco surveyed her a bit.  She didn’t seem as if she was here to start any type of altercation nor to perhaps offer him an ultimatum on staying away from Harry.  Instead, she seemed to be unsure of herself and almost frightened in a way.  Draco didn’t think he was intimidating, but perhaps it was a subconscious reaction.

“Are you alright, Ginerva? Do you need to go to the hospital wing or something?” he asked again wondering if perhaps she had been cursed or something.  He looked behind her to see if anyone was paying more attention than needed to them, but everyone was focused on their work.

Ginny blinked and nodded before walking closer.  She leaned down as if she was going to whisper something into Draco’s ear, but instead she gave him a soft kiss on the lips.  Draco was in shock and most certainly not kissing the redhead back.  It was very confusing to say the least and when he was about to pull back and say something, Ginny had done it herself.

He looked at her for an explanation and Ginny just smiled at him.  “I wondered what it could be about you that makes Harry seem so normal.”

“He is normal.” Draco said not seeing where this is going. He was just kissed by a girl he saw crying earlier after her break up.  She couldn’t possibly be interested in him, could she?

Ginny shook her head.  “No.  He isn’t, but he needs to be.  Even though I am ok with the break up, I didn’t miss the way he seemed to lean on you for support and you easily supported him.  I don’t even think either of you realized it.  Of course, you could just be fantastic friends.”

“What does this have to do with you kissing me?” Draco asked wanting an explanation to that and not to have a similar conversation with Harry’s former girlfriend that he had with his best friend.

Another smile graced the redhead’s face.  “I wanted to know that if anything ever happened, then you would be good for him.  I’m sure he may enjoy it, if he ever gets to kiss you one day.  The kiss made me feel calm and safe, which are two words I would have never associated with a Malfoy in the past.  You will be great for him, if you two ever get together.  Thank you so much for that, Draco.”

With those words Ginny left the library.  A quick glance around them showed that no one had paid them any mind.  Speaking of the mind, Draco was wondering what the bloody hell just happened.

~Back in the Usual Meeting Spot~

Ron and Blaise were dressed and sitting at the desk looking over Ron’s cooking idea.  Blaise was currently working on the rules of the contest in order to get rid of any loopholes and Ron was thinking about earlier.  Ron was pretty sure that he was falling in love with Blaise even though they had never said those words.  Was it too soon or was the timing just right?

It wasn’t as if they hadn’t known each other before this even if they were on different sides.  A thought from the past would have had him becoming an Auror, married to Hermione, and probably with children within a few years after getting married.  The life he envisioned now had to deal with champagne by the fire place, working as a detective or dueling instructor, and one day possibly raising children with the sexy male next to him.

The thought of the second one didn’t bother Ron as much as it might have at the very beginning of this year.  Instead, he knew that he wanted Blaise to be his first and only.  He would need to observe Blaise for a while as well to make sure Blaise wanted the same thing.  It wouldn’t be good to jump head first into it without knowing Blaise’s stance on it.

“And… done.  As the rules now stand, they will not be able to get out of working together or changing their mind once they sign up.  I know Draco will be curious about the idea of muggle cooking as a survival technique and he is still competitive regardless of how mellow he is now.  This means he will ask Harry to enter the contest with him to ensure that they will win it.” Blaise said as he looked over at Ron.

Blaise knew that Ron was thinking about earlier and he hoped that Ron would start thinking of how he wanted to spend the rest of his life.  They were young, but no one said they had to get married soon after potentially getting engaged.  There was a lot more to study about the gorgeous strategist, but that was neither here nor there.  Ron wanted Draco and Harry together, then that is what his boyfriend was going to get.

Ron took the new and improved ground rules and looked them over to see if he could spot a loophole, but it was essentially ‘air-tight’.  “I know I’ve said it before, but you are so damn amazing Blaise… at everything.”  Ron smirked while still reading over everything.

“Of course I am.” Blaise said leaning over and pressing a kiss to Ron’s neck once more before he moved and set up their cauldron to work on their potion in the classroom. 

Ron merely folded up the rules and put them away to present to Dumbledore later.  After casting a quick Tempus spell, he went to work on cutting up the ingredients that they needed.  Harry and Draco would be here soon and it would probably be better for them to at least look like they hadn’t made any progress in their relationship.  He would use nearly anything to keep those two talking and interested in one another beyond the normal realms of friendship.   Once they were together, he could spare some focus on other very important things like, as Harry would put it, tasting Italian.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This was a super long time between updates, but on a good note I did actually write more than one chapter. I will update it either Sat. or Sun. next week. Life just got in the way of writing and updating. I am thankful for everyone reading this story new and old. Characters are OOC in some aspects or it wouldn't be fanfiction. :) Enjoy.
> 
> Also as soon as I figure it out, I will respond to all the comments and everything. Thank you guys for all the kudos. :)
> 
> Warnings: Minus a kiss, I think you are pretty safe this chapter.

* * *

The next morning had Draco thinking that the fates secretly wanted to drive him mad. After a rather confusing day of being kissed not only by Harry, but his ex as well, he was not prepared for Hermione to approach him first thing.  He watched as she seemed to be trying to get some sort of wording out, but it was as if she couldn’t form the right words. 

“Please tell me that you don’t want to kiss me randomly too.” Draco said with apprehension and a slight bit of fear to his voice. 

Hermione closed her mouth blinking at Draco.  “I’m sorry Draco, but you aren’t my type.”

“Oh thank Merlin.” Draco said  sighing in relief.  He was truly afraid he was going to get kissed by yet another Gryffindor in less than 24 hours.

The brown haired muggleborn just shook her head considering that maybe Draco didn’t sleep much the night before.  “I wanted to ask you a question about Blaise actually.”, she said finally finding her stereotypical Gryffindor courage to ask him about it.  

It was years of practice that allowed Draco to keep his near infamous blank look. “I suppose it would depend on what you decide to ask.  After all, Blaise is my best friend and contrary to very popular beliefs of my past, I will not give up his secrets for any price that you may wish to offer.” he stated feeling that it was the most acceptable Slytherin-like answer to give her.  

Of course, the witch in front of him would have to believe that.  Draco didn’t think that Hermione was here to ask about Blaise’s work ethic nor was she here to gain dirt on Blaise so to speak.  He knew that she was crushing on Blaise, and he also knew that she could never give Blaise what he wanted.  It was amusing really.  If Blaise had been any other type of guy, he would have probably dated, taken, and broken up with the girl by now.  After all, she had asked him out a while ago and Blaise had declined the offer of her company. 

“I understand and I would never betray a friend’s secrets either, but I am curious about a couple things.  I wanted to know if Blaise is still single and perhaps his favorite color or something.  Pansy said that Blaise has never shown interest in much, but I realize that sometimes people show interest without meaning to. I am curious to know if he is actually interested in someone as well.  Could you tell me any of that and maybe something that I can work with please, Draco?” she asked using her classmate’s name in order to perhaps gain a bit more sympathy.

Draco almost shook his head, but instead he gave what he hoped was a thoughtful look. A soft sigh left his lips as if he decided to help the girl figure out his best friend.  “Blaise, as far as I know, is in fact single.  I don’t tend to pry into my friend’s lives or ask me to tell them things.  As far as his interest, Pansy was correct in stating that Blaise doesn’t hold interest in much.  I suppose you’d have to ask him if he held any interest in someone, unless of course… he had already told you that.”

Hermione bit her lip and looked away.  “He said he had his sights set on someone, yes.  However, if he is still single then obviously that person doesn’t realize what a catch Blaise is and I could perhaps try to change whatever it is that made him turn down my offer.  Do you think it is because he is worried about having to teach me what to do in a more intimate sense? I do have some idea of how to please someone.”

Her words were almost enough to make Draco want to hex her.  If Blaise wasn’t interested, then she was not going to change his mind.  Adding insult to injury, she just assumed that Blaise was only thinking about or worried about sex.  “Blaise isn’t someone who will just jump into a relationship.  He thinks things through completely before he is comfortable even making a first move.  As for you not believing him, I can’t tell you to do much except maybe try to see if anything catches his attention at meal times and class times.  Since I am simply thankful that you did not try to kiss me… I would guess that Blaise’s favorite color is red.  Now that is all I am telling you.” he said and walked off. 

Perhaps it had been a bit cruel of him to tell her that Blaise’s favorite color was red.  It  hadn’t been before, but Draco was sure Blaise was still hoping Ron would give him a chance.  Draco was a bit worried for his friend, and scarily enough a bit worried for Harry’s best friend.  Blaise was not known for letting the things he wanted slip through his fingers once he had decided on them.  If Ron ever wanted something different, the chances of it happening were slim to never going to happen.

Oh well, he’d support his friend in any way he had to.  Until then, he would once again be happy that he wasn’t kissed by yet another Gryffindor. 

~In Dumbledore’s Office~

“Well, I think this is a fantastic way to promote inner house unity and muggle relations, boys.”, said Albus Dumbledore as he looked over the rules for the muggle style cooking contest.  “I shall announce it at breakfast this morning.  I am quite pleased to see that you two aren’t letting the ugliness of war continue to dictate your actions.  I have noticed that you two worked together rather well.  Now, if I may impart some wisdom on you both, sometimes it is better to speak what we want for we may be surprised by how it turns out.” 

If Dumbledore hoped to gain information about the nature of their relationship, he could not discern even a bit of it from the pleasantly smiling Ronald Weasley and the almost stone faced Blaise Zabini sitting next to him.  Instead, the boys seemed to be off in their own world and yet present at the same time.  Apparently, they had learned particular traits from having to work together in two different classes.  Perhaps he should have had made it a rule to have different house partners in classes years ago. 

Ron gave Dumbledore a bit of a smile. “I am just happy that you like the idea, sir.  It was just something I was thinking about, having Harry and Hermione as my best friends. I think it could be fun to try something different.  After all, people have to be tired of the constant use for magic and it could allow them to feel some sort of sense of accomplishment.”

Dumbledore nodded and then gave them a smile.  “Yes. It is quite a good idea indeed. Now I believe it would be time for you two to go to breakfast.  I wouldn’t want your friends worried about the fact that you two are missing from the meal.  It might start a school wide search and I am quite positive that it would be too much excitement for this morning gentleman.” Blaise and Ron both stood up with the Slytherin leaving the room first.  Ron left the office second not exactly sure when Dumbledore would be down to breakfast.  All he was thinking about was how easy it had been to get the Headmaster to agree to the plan.  It would take a bit of convincing to get Draco to agree to enter it with Harry though, or maybe he only thought it would. 

They didn’t walk next to each other until they were a good distance away from Dumbledore’s office.  Blaise looked around a moment and then pulled Ron into a kiss in the middle of the hallway.  The kiss was returned with little to no fuss until Ron seemed to remember exactly where they were standing and that anyone could walk by.

Ron pushed Blaise away from him, panting slightly.  “Blaise, what are you doing?”, he asked searching the Slytherin’s face.  It wasn’t that he was ashamed of being with the Slytherin, but all of the planning. What would happen to it if someone caught him and Blaise together?

The dark skinned Slytherin took a deep breath and shook his head. 

“What I am doing is giving my boyfriend a quick kiss on the lips before having to pretend that we aren’t dating for our friends.  Or is that not acceptable anymore? I mean, I could totally not touch you at all and wait until you start squirming, panting, and begging for even just a peck on the lips.”

The redhead’s eyebrows shot up into his hair at that comment almost as fast as the blush spread over his face.  “Oh really?” he asked with a bit of a grin.  “You think you could handle not pulling me into some secluded alcove for a kiss, Blaise?  I think that might be an interesting challenge to see you try, but then again I doubt either of us would like that very much.   It would be quite boring discussing my newest plan without having you kiss me and give me those little rewards I seem to crave thanks to you.”  Ron said but then heard someone coming down the corridor and sighed.  “I suppose we better continue on to breakfast.”

“I suppose so.” Blaise stated and they walked off to the Great Hall.

~In the Great Hall~

Professor Dumbledore had somehow made it to the Great Hall before them, but that is not what was currently on Ron’s mind.  Harry seemed distracted and distractions didn’t bode well for his plans, but he could come up with something if it was too distracting.  A covert glance over to the Slytherin table showed that Blaise was talking with Draco and Dumbledore seemed to be preparing for the announcements now that breakfast was close to done. 

“I would like to propose a competition that was brought to me by two students wishing to promote house unity after the troubling times the wizarding world has been through. One thing I had noticed in the deceased Tom Riddle and many of our fallen friends was a misunderstanding of those who live differently than us.  Therefore, I would like to announce a muggle cooking contest that will be held here in the Great Hall in two weeks.  This should give students time to study and prepare a small menu to be judged by our staff.  Professor Snape has stated he will have food poisoning potions on hand for both practice and during the actual competition.” Dumbledore stated eyes shining at the idea.  

“The rules are quite simple.  You must choose a partner from another house.  This may be a perfect time for those who grew up in the wizarding world to speak with those who have not grown up in the wizarding world.  Our esteemed professor of muggle studies has materials for students to use during meal times and an hour and a half before curfew.” he said with a smile.  “You are to create an appetizer, entrée, and dessert to be judged by myself as well as Professors McGonagall, Snape, Sprout, Lupin, and Flitwick.  We will be judging you on your presentation, taste, teamwork, and how well your menu goes together.  During non-meal times, the Great Hall will be open with stations of muggle ovens.  The house elves will provide ingredients.  In order to prevent any pranks, each station will only allow the two students who are working together and have chosen that station to access it.”

“What are the prizes?” A student from Slytherin called out.

“When would we be allowed to practice?” Another student called out, this time from Ravenclaw.

The headmaster looked at all the students.  “The Great Hall would be available to practice in most of the day barring thirty minutes before and after meal times to allow the house elves time to set up for meals and to take down the meals and allow adequate practicing room and time.  You may come during your study periods, free periods, Hogsmeade weekends, and more to work on your culinary masterpieces.  This contest is open to the 5th through 8th year students as we do not want our younger ones getting hurt in the process. You are not to use magic for the preparation of any food.  The appropriate cutlery and equipment is available at each station.  You may use magic to keep yourself cool, heal any minor injuries if you know the appropriate spell, or clean yourself and/or your partner up.”

“The prizes will be 200 galleons, two free trips to Hogsmeade at any time, two get out of detention free cards, and two trophies that will be created by Professors McGonagall and Flitwick for the first place winners.  For second place, the prizes will be 100 galleons, a free trip to Hogsmeade at any time, and two trophies denoting the place.  For those who get third place, they will get 50 galleons and two trophies denoting their place in the contest.  I shall also add in a prize of my own and allow for the two students in 1st and 2nd place to go out to an all-expense paid dinner with their friend to get to know them better. There is no reason that friendship only needs to last for the contest, though I may be a bit worried about my Gringotts account if Mr. Weasley wins the contest.” Dumbledore said followed by a few chuckles around the hall.  Ron’s appetite was almost as legendary as Harry’s scar in some instances.

Ron blushed a bit but chuckled along with everyone else.  His blush intensified only a bit when he met Blaise’s eyes and the momentary look of fondness he saw in them.  He looked back down at his food and without an ounce of embarrassment finished the large stack of food in front of him.

-On the way to Potions-

Draco had pulled Blaise aside before his best friend and the second to youngest Weasley ended up walking to the class together.  “I just realized that this is perfect for you Blaise.” the blonde said to him. 

“Oh? Why would you think that?” Blaise said, barely showing any interest in the contest at all, though he already planned to enter it with Ron.

“Just think about it, you could use the contest to spend more time with Weasley.” Draco said resisting the urge to roll his eyes from the obviousness of his statement.  “If you spend enough time with him, then he can learn more about you.  It is something and you can entice him to join by mentioning the prizes again.”

Blaise glanced at Draco. “You think I should ask him to enter the contest and if he says no, then bring up the prize money.  Oh I think that would go over swimmingly.  Hey, I would love to spend more time with you Ron and if you need an incentive then first prize is 200 galleons.” he said with an amused look on his face.

Draco internally winced.  “I suppose it would not be in your best interest to state it as such to Weasley.  You could merely ask him to participate in the contest with you.  If he asks why, then point out that you two seem to work quite well together and you would not want to mess with that dynamic.” 

Blaise hummed softly in thought. “It might work.  Do you plan to enter the contest?” 

“Yes.  I feel as though it would be important to learn some more survival skills and since I would need a partner from another house, I might as well ask Potter for his assistance in the contest.” Draco said before they walked into the classroom.

Blaise just glanced at Ron and gave him a small smile.  His partner’s plan had worked perfectly.

-In the Potion’s Classroom-

Ron couldn’t be more proud of the situation currently.  Everything that he has managed so far has been able to bring both Harry and Draco together.  His best friend was no longer dating his sister, which was great for both of them.  Those two finally shared a kiss even though Harry may have scared off Draco a bit.  It could be fixed as long as the two continued to work together on various projects.  Ron wouldn’t say that everything was perfect, but it was working and it was all he could hope for at this stage.  

He glanced at the spelled notes in his book.  There were parts of this plan that he hadn’t wanted Blaise to know.  Ron wasn’t an idiot.  He could see now that there would be problems with the relationship between Harry and Draco if they got together.  This potion would need to be made then, and now that he had the exact potion written down it would be much easier.


	17. Chapter 16 - The Perfect Practice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this took so long. I had finals and all that lovely stuff and was just overall stressed. Here is the next chapter of this lovely fic. 
> 
> As an added bonus: Harry and Draco may actually get together in the next chapter so keep an eye out for that. :) 
> 
> As usual, I don't own anything. 
> 
> I am thankful for everyone reading this story new and old. Characters are OOC in some aspects or it wouldn't be fanfiction. :) Enjoy.
> 
> Warnings: Um.. nothing much I think. You should be good this chapter. :)

The next week at Hogwarts was quite chaotic. Ron had been quite happy that Draco asked Harry to be his partner for the contest, but now he was frustrated. Hermione seemed to be dressing in even more revealing clothing and just so happened to have a question to ask him when Blaise was around.   He told himself that it was necessary to put up with this for the sake of hiding his relationship, but he didn’t have to like it.

The increasing jealousy was getting a bit harder to hide and no amount of counting to ten or focusing on Draco taking Harry in various ways was going to make it go away. He had thought that she would give up when she found her efforts fruitless, but it seemed in all of his planning he had forgotten how stubborn Hermione could be.

Currently, she was working on her meal with Pansy and wearing a shirt that Ron swore shouldn’t be technically allowed in school. Not to mention that every time he ‘looked’ away, he could see his _friend_ giving Blaise flirty looks. Even his mantra of ‘don’t kill the mudblood’ was starting to not be as effective as it had been before. Blaise assured him that he had nothing to worry about, but the entire situation bothered the hell out of him. Seriously, did Blaise seem like the type to take the offer of any sleazy tartlet that batted their eyelashes at him?

Why wouldn’t she just get a clue and leave Blaise alone? He had even heard Blaise tell her that he wasn’t interested on several occasions by this point and nothing seemed to be getting through her thick skull. Maybe people had something right when they had talked about how her hair used to look. It had to have been blocking her from reading obvious signs that Blaise was not bloody interested in her.

“Ron!” Blaise called out his name a little louder and cast an illusion spell. His darling redhead had been increasingly distracted during their attempt at cooking on this awful muggle contraption. “Ron, what is going on with you? Are you still obsessing over Hermione wearing that ridiculously low cut shirt and giving me those looks?”

Ron’s mouth opened and then closed. “I am trying not to, but it would help if she wasn’t being such a bloody obvious harlot. Who on earth did she learn this from and why would she think it was the best way to gain your attention?”

“It isn’t gaining my attention. The only people in this room that have my attention would be you, and of course for purposes of the plan, Harry and Draco. She isn’t going to get me or take me from you Ron. You are basically stuck with me.” Blaise said rubbing a bit of burn salve on Ron’s hand. “Now prove that you are better than her and focus only on me while we put this together. By the way, I am not sure that a cake should look quite like this.”

Blaise held up a very lumpy looking, horribly decorated cake. “I waited until it was cooler before I started frosting it, but it still melted for some reason. I also don’t believe the recipe called for sour cream in that particular pasta. Maybe we should have added some other seasoning instead of chili powder and lemon pepper. How are we going to win a prize if we don’t fix this mess?”

Ron flashed Blaise a smile and then went about requesting the ingredients again. “You are right about everything and at the moment, I need to win us a couple more dates.” he said with a grin. No one could hear exactly what they were talking about because the sounds around their work station were muffled. It had been set up to prevent cheating after the first day when two fifth years had tried to completely copy the menu of a couple of sixth years. They were banned from the contest, but to protect other student’s creativity sounds around their work stations were muffled.

~At Harry and Draco’s station~

Harry hummed to himself as he continued to whip the meringue for their dessert. At first, he thought he would hate the idea of this contest, but he never realized that he actually missed cooking without magic. It wasn’t that house elves and using a wand didn’t make things easier, but cooking without magic could be calming in its own right. They had a decent amount of time to put things together, but today he wanted to get their menu done and make sure it tasted decent. Draco was a quick learner and once he learned how to use the stove, one would have thought he had been using one for years.

He had been lost in thought about the last time they had been around each other. Of course, he had apologized to Draco, but that didn’t stop him from wondering why he had in fact kissed Draco. Harry had never had that reaction to Ron and they had been friends for years. Based on his talk with Ron later that evening, it could be that he just didn’t know what he wanted and that he saw Ron more as a brother while Draco was ‘dangerous and exciting’.

Harry admittedly hit Ron with a pillow after that and told him stop trying to pass off his fantasies of Blaise on to him and Draco. Ron had pointed out that Harry brought up fantasies more often than he did and thus it had to be Harry’s fantasies that he hoped Ron would be able to experience with Blaise since he wouldn’t give Draco a try. With that statement, Harry had sat there even more confused than he was before.

If he had to sit there and compare everyone he has kissed to each other, then Draco was strangely enough the best kiss that he’s ever had. Draco had been patient and in control without crying, pushing, criticizing, or well anything truly demeaning. He hadn’t pulled away either time and complained about what a horrible kiss that it was or how he wished he never did anything like that. Their kisses were passionate and then almost like water under the bridge until one of them brought it up. The kisses were not even awkward to think about or talk about, but it didn’t mean one kiss should decide an entire relationship.

There had to be something more.

Something in addition to just the simple attraction of two people to one another.

There had to be…

“I shared a kiss with Ginny.” Draco said with a sigh after ten minutes of trying to get Harry’s attention. What on earth could the other be thinking about at this time? He had just finished sautéing the vegetables they needed for their salmon dish and wanted to ask Harry how to make sure the salmon was done.   However, after calling Harry’s name several times and being ignored, he felt he should shock Harry out of his reverie.

Green eyes blinked at him for a moment as the statement was processed. “You… You kissed Ginny?” Harry asked frowning as he put the bowl of topping down on the counter. What was this feeling that he had? It wasn’t something he was truly used to feeling and he wasn’t sure if he could call it jealousy or self-righteous anger. He should be angry. In fact, he should be furious.

_At who?_

The fact that the question had even popped into his mind had Harry calming down quickly. The question shouldn’t have even been thought of and should have a simple answer. He should be upset with Draco, but rationally he knew that was not the case. There is also the fact that as he was no longer dating Ginny, then she was available to date anyone that she pleased and that included Draco.

Was Draco dating Ginny or was he overthinking things too much? This could be much like their Defense Against the Dark Arts project in which he was focused on what he thought things meant instead of what they were. He paused a moment and thought about what Draco said once more. He said he shared a kiss with Ginny which could easily mean that Ginny had kissed him. There had been no added emotion in the sentence or anything to hint that he potentially enjoyed the kiss with his ex.

Draco waited a moment for Harry to think through his statement before speaking to him. If he would have answered the question right away, then Harry would have ignored how he felt about the situation and instead went to a default emotion regardless of how he actually felt about the subject. It would lead to a very unproductive conversation if that were to happen.

“Are you all sorted out and everything?” Draco asked him and gave a small smile at the affirmation that he was. “As for that question, I didn’t so much kiss her as get kissed by her. She said she wanted to see something and surprised me. I had no intention of kissing your ex-girlfriend and I’d never do that to a friend, especially after you kissed me just earlier that day.”

Harry had frowned a bit more and then nodded once. It made sense if Ginny had been rather appreciative of Draco diffusing the rather awkward break up scenario that had happened between them. Surprisingly, he felt a bit of mild jealousy at the fact that Ginny had kissed Draco not long after he himself did.

“I believe you, Draco.” Harry stated and then looked over at the meal they were working on. “The salmon looks good. You want to make sure that it doesn’t get too dry and so cooking it roughly about 15-30 minutes on low should do the trick. We can time a couple of them at once to make sure they come out perfect before the contest date.”

Draco gave him a quick nod. “Alright. How is the topping coming for the pie?”, he asked as he carefully removed the salmon from the pan.

“It is just fine. I am going to add it to the pie now and then try to put together our appetizer while it all sets.” Harry said. “I wonder… shouldn’t I have been the least bit upset to find out you and Ginny kissed later on that day. Instead, I am not sure what I feel. The entire idea of it strikes me as odd and the feelings aren’t something I believe I am quite used to feeling just yet. I suppose that I will sort it out completely at some point of time, but it just seems so complicated.”   
  
Draco was working on the plating of the salmon and vegetables humming softly to himself as he thought up the appropriate response. The problem was that there wasn’t a perfect response to this. On one hand, he could explain that the break up was still affecting Harry, but they had just been going through the motions. “I am not sure what I could tell you to be honest. I could come up with some sound, flowery speech about how you are still experiencing some pain from your breakup and the idea of Ginny and I kissing upset you, but something tells me it is not for reasons that I think it is.”

“Or I could sit here and tell you that everything you are feeling is completely normal, but that wouldn’t help you figure out your problem. I believe that it is something between those. I think that you are not jealous about the aforementioned kiss because you two were just going through the motions since you’ve been together. Don’t bother denying it because it was quite obvious to anyone paying attention to either of you during that time.” he pointed out as he finished the plating and was just adding a bit of garnish to the plate.

Harry stared at Draco for a moment before he finally conceded to his point. “It could very well be the reason. Or I suppose it could be that I am more or less consumed with thoughts about someone completely different and never really had the chance to think things through with everything that had been going on in my life at that point of time. Also, don’t bother arguing that point because it is quite similar to the ones you made to me. I do learn Draco.”

Draco looked admittedly impressed even though he knew Harry had been picking up on the tips he had about life. Still, he never quite expected Harry to use them against him so well. It was rather intriguing as much as might hate to admit it. “Oh Harry… I doubt you will learn all my tricks. If you did, that would make for a rather boring friendship, and don’t you think?” he asked him with a light smirk.

For a moment, Draco felt he had won that little bit of banter as Harry got up to cut a piece of pie and set it on the plate. He should have known things weren’t so simple with his newfound friend. Harry leaned close to Draco and whispered in his ear. “Maybe you should just surprise me one day.”

The challenge to that statement was something that Draco barely resisted. He simply wiped his hands on the towel in front of him and turned placing them on Harry’s hips. Draco’s voice was a low whisper even though no one could see them. “I’m not sure you can handle surprises, Harry.”

~Back Over to Ron and Blaise~

Blaise was once again incredibly thankful for illusionary charms as he used a conjured fan to fan Ron at the latest Draco and Harry display. If Harry and Draco didn’t get together at the conclusion of this cooking contest, he was going to strangle one of those two. He was impressed that a cooking contest had brought them even closer considering he figured that Draco might not be as interested in actual cooking or something along those lines. After all, it was a smart way to prepare for anything that might happen, but at the same time a muggle cooking contest was not part of their planned curriculums to enter out into the real world.   Ideas would need to be planted further into their minds before the contest.   It could be a small mention of a kiss or perhaps something to get them thinking of each other.

Ron had been right that Harry would fall for Draco first. It was clear in the green-eyed Gryffindor wanted Draco by the way his eyes lingered on him. Now he had to help Ron out by getting Draco to think more, but it would be hard without making Draco suspicious. However, if he mentioned this little cooking incident, he could get Draco to talk.

Ron looked at Blaise with a light smile. “Thank you for that.” he said and glanced over at Hermione who was once again looking at Blaise. His eyes narrowed a bit and he starting counting to ten in his head. It was something that Harry once said he used to calm down and just kept it in his mind that Blaise didn’t want the flashy, little, snooty, know-it-all, want-to-be, man-stealing, muggleborn whore.

“A flashy, little, snooty, know-it-all, want-to-be, man-stealing, muggleborn whore?” Blaise asked with an eyebrow raised at the string of language out of the redhead’s mouth. “Well I must admit that while I do not like her nor would I ever give her the time of day, I do rather like seeing you get all jealous. Your face gets a bit red and you just radiate this ‘I’m going to kill something’ aura that admittedly is quite sexy.”

A blush replaced the light anger splotches on Ron’s cheek. “I swear one of these days I am going to make you hold to one of those promises and show me how sexy you actually find me.”

“Trust me, Ron. When that day comes, I will show you everything you’ve ever dreamed of and somethings you’ve never imagined.” Blaise said in a tone that spoke deeply of promise.

~At Hermione and Pansy’s Station~

Hermione looked at back at Blaise and flashed him another wink and smile.

“Is this really what guys want in a girl?” she asked Pansy as she started plating part of their food to work on the presentation.

Pansy nodded. “Yes, they want a girl that is hot enough for more than one guy to want her, but not a total skank basically. They wanted to be invited and asked in a sense to come after the girl, but they don’t want to be able to get it as easily.   Guys are ridiculously hard to understand and I doubt any woman would ever be able to. We can just guess at why they think the way they do.”

“So basically you are saying that I could write a whole research paper on men and not even scratch the surface of how they think?” Hermione asked.

“Exactly.” Pansy said as she tasted the part of the meal she was cooking. “I mean think about it. Wouldn’t it just be easier for a guy to just say what he wanted from a girl? It would, but they don’t say that. Instead, we have to go based on what we think they will like. Unfortunately, most guys like short skirts, low tops, and so on. At least in school and then when they graduate they want something completely different.”

Hermione sighed a bit. “It doesn’t even take until graduation. For example, I used to have the biggest crush on Ron and then he decided that he actually wanted to start studying and taking his life seriously. He just did a complete 180 on me.   I thought it was great at first, but then he never even asked me for help or he’d already ask Blaise about it. I partially wonder if he plays for the other team. Oh! You don’t think Ron is going after Blaise as well do you?”

Now there were a lot of things Pansy could say to this, but she was going to give the answer that for the moment benefitted her the most. “I don’t think that he is. I believe that they just friends and perhaps have similar interests like quidditch and guy stuff. Blaise isn’t too bad with all that romantic stuff and so maybe Ron just likes another girl and is going to Blaise for advice.”

“I suppose that would be true. I mean Harry was dating his sister and I can’t see him going to the guy who, as he put it, broke his sister’s heart and smashed it into a million pieces or something similar to that. I doubt he’d want to ask for advice from me considering I never seem to do anything concerning dating.” Hermione surmised.

Pansy internally sighed when Hermione accepted that answer. If the truth were to be told, she suspected that Blaise and Ron were a lot more than just friends and if they weren’t, they definitely would be soon. Blaise was showing too much interest in Ron for it to be just a mere friendship. She had never seen Blaise show that much interest in Draco or anyone before.

There was also the odd thought that she had passing through her mind. On her way to breakfast the one day, she could’ve sworn that she caught them kissing, but that couldn’t have been right. Both she and Draco were Blaise’s best friends and he would tell them if he got together with someone. After all, Blaise swore that he’d marry the person who could arouse such interest in him. He wouldn’t hide that fact from his best friends would he?

They wouldn’t care if he dated another man or even Weasley for that matter.   They would just be happy that Blaise showed any interest in someone else at all. It would be the same if she could ever get Hermione to be willing to experiment for a few years with her. She wasn’t expecting a ‘Happily Ever After’ but it would be nice to have the smart muggleborn witch at her side until Hermione found whatever she was searching for.

Still, the whole issue with Blaise bothered her. She admitted to spending more of her time with Hermione and had not been paying attention to one of dearest friends in a while. Growing up in the Slytherin house had made her a bit more perceptive or at least she would like to think it had made her that way. Wouldn’t she have noticed if he was interested in someone? They had known him for seven years now and he wouldn’t hide anything. Wait…

He wasn’t hiding something from her and Draco was he?


	18. Chapter 17: Cooking Contests and Sweet Success

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I apologize that this took so long. I had the entire chapter finished, but the cooking contest was very tricky. I am very sorry, but now that it is done, I will be updating much sooner. Thank you to all who have read it in the meantime whether you've reviewed or not. I truly and sincerely appreciate it. Please enjoy.

Pansy was staring into space as Hermione was reading over her part of their Defense assignment. They had agreed to research and write separate parts in order to get the project done much faster. It had been a couple of months which meant the contest and then the Yule Ball. However, the Slytherin girl was currently focused on other things. Those things had to do with the glimpses of Draco looking at Harry and Blaise’s seeming interest in the second to youngest Weasley.

The war had been over for a while and honestly she could care less about the ideals it was fought for. Hell, most of the time she was trying to get the world’s smartest and yet most oblivious brunette, female, muggleborn Gryffindor to notice that she was flirting with her. One would think with all those brains that Hermione would have guessed it but it didn’t seem she could.

As for her male best friends, she wasn’t too worried about Draco and Harry potentially ending up together. After all, it would be rather hot to see them together. Oh, she could just imagine going to visit Draco and seeing Draco all sweet and submissive to the savior. It most certainly wouldn’t be that way, but perhaps someone could trick Draco into that bet. She would try to get them together herself, but really she was focused on someone else right now.

It would be amusing, she decided, if someone did get them together. She might laugh if Blaise’s lovely partner did, but while he seemed calmer and doing better in school, she could not imagine for one moment that Ronald Weasley would ever try or be able to think of something like that. It would be quite hilarious though. The wizarding world would have a huge fit and probably beg for Ronald Weasley’s strategies on how to hook up with their partners or get their friend’s together. Blaise would probably be by his side the entire time.

Now that was the real enigma of everything. Was Blaise actually attracted to the redheaded Gryffindor? She didn’t even know Blaise’s type of partner and perhaps they were just best friends as well. They had been in school for years and Blaise’s attentions were strongly sought after for many though the dreams of dating the dark-skinned Slytherin were usually slim to none. It brought out other questions as well. Blaise had no trouble telling someone when he wasn’t interested in them. In fact, he had made plenty of people upset with his usual blank and impassive rejections of their feelings.

So… why hadn’t he done so with Hermione yet? Sure, he had told her time and again that he wasn’t quite interested, but the way and tones that it was said in were highly suggestive. It sounded like Blaise didn’t want to rush into a relationship or that he just had a passing fancy for someone. Pansy knew that Blaise wasn’t like that, but he had never given so many seemingly mixed signals before. He was being nice with Hermione and he usually wasn’t very nice to any of those who had crushes on him before this.

Did Blaise actually like Hermione? Or was he being sweet to her to show off or impress his class partner? She could just ask Blaise, but that would be pointless if Blaise decided to not answer her questions on what was going on. He could just say that it wasn’t any of her business whom he was interested in and rightfully so. Friends or not, she would hate someone prying into every aspect of her personal life. There were just some things that she would prefer to keep quiet about.

“Pansy… are you ok?” Hermione asked checking her partner for a fever. It had been a strange bit of time and Pansy had been thinking over something for a few months. When Hermione asked her about it, the Slytherin girl usually just shook her head and gave her a very generalized answer as to what she was thinking about.

If she was being honest, it didn’t quite sit well with her when she really thought about it. Hermione felt that both she and Pansy had been getting along great and she would hope by now they could talk to each other more than about Hermione’s attempts at trying to date Blaise. Maybe she should invite Pansy to visit for the upcoming holiday or something. They could take a break from boys for a while and just do some fun things like go shopping or go to a spa that her mother took her to once. It might be amusing to see pureblood girl in a completely muggle spa.

If she was being honest, she was kind of curious to see Pansy in her natural element. Was the Slytherin girl only so reserved at school? Would Pansy be a bit more wild and crazy when she was in the safety of her own home and surrounded by close friends and family? It was something that Hermione had found herself wondering more often than not.

Hermione was a bookworm and she wasn’t afraid to admit that. These past few months with these new clothes and such didn’t quite feel like her, but it did make her feel a bit more dangerous and attractive, but in a good way. She hadn’t focused on normal teenage things, but more or less her career once she left Hogwarts. It was great, but she should take the time to really enjoy life and that was yet another reason that she kept pursuing Blaise. Was this how girl’s felt when they found a guy that had the world’s biggest crush on?

Pansy just gave Hermione a bit of a sheepish smile. “I spaced out again, didn’t I? It is probably because the contest is later today and I am hoping our dishes are good enough to win one of the prizes.” she said not even sure why she was lying. If Blaise wasn’t interested in Hermione, then she could just tell her and end the craziness now, but she hadn’t. Whether or not she was just afraid of losing Hermione as a friend and seeing the brunette in various stages of undress, she really had no idea.

Hermione smiled. “It would be nice to have two very nice dinners or something. Let’s go do a last minute trial run. It wouldn’t hurt to make sure that everything will go properly. As for the paper, I will add it to mine and check the length of the assignment later tonight.” she said and then packed up her things.

Once both girls were packed up, they went to the Great Hall to begin their practice.

~In the Great Hall~

Ron and Blaise were working together in complete harmony. For their meal, they had hashed out specific assignments such as Ron baking the cake and Blaise working on the presentation of the meal they had come up with. It had been an interesting couple of months since the cooking contest had been first announced, but nothing too noteworthy. It was almost Christmas time and Blaise had already invited Ron over for the holidays. The redhead agreed to it easily but he was more nervous than he let on. He would get to meet Blaise’s mother this holiday and he wasn’t too sure about that.   It also meant that he wouldn’t see if Harry and Draco were still getting along at least as friends, but Blaise had found a charm to ensure he could follow along with his plan from afar.

There were some successes and failures to his brilliant plan in this time though. They weren’t necessarily large successes or failures, but minor setbacks at best. The first was the argument the two had over their project last month. Draco had suggested that Harry focus a bit more anger into each and every spell to see how emotions could affect the power and malice behind ‘light’ spells. It had been a good experiment in theory, but Harry sadly did have a problem with being a bit unpredictable at times.

Instead of adding a bit of emotions, Harry had cast the spell with his full amount of frustration at what he was supposed to do in regards to his strange, upcoming feelings for Draco. This led to Harry casting a simple _lumos_ and essentially blinding them all for 24hours. Draco became frustrated and refused to speak to Harry at all for four days. It probably would have been longer had Blaise not reminded Draco that his grade depended on him working with Harry.

Harry’s cause for frustration almost had Ron wanting to strangle the raven haired male and demand he go and beg for Draco’s forgiveness like a good little submissive, but thank Merlin he had kept his calm. During those four days, Ron was constantly bombarded with random rants from Harry about Draco not talking to him. According to Harry, it just didn’t go with what Draco talked about dealing with friendships and relationships. Therefore, he was questioning Draco again until Ron threw a pillow at him.

It was then that Ron explained that Draco was probably just upset because he had to miss an entire day of class and had to deal with that awful headache. Perhaps, he felt that Harry hadn’t listened to him again and it was something that could have seriously hurt someone. Ron realized he probably shouldn’t have phrased it exactly that way, but Harry seemed to accept what Ron was saying.

The failure of the spell incident seemed to be a success with Harry accepting the subtle hints at being submissive to Draco. Ron could just hear the wedding bells already followed by Draco having to punish Harry for forgetting his place at the reception. It was going to be wonderful. Another minor success he could count was how well they were working together for the contest. A few hints of flirting could be seen since that one day and Ron was just hoping Draco would crack and realize that Harry would be good for him. He had realized that he was focusing way too much on Harry and not enough on the Draco aspect.   It was yet another reason he was so thankful to have Blaise at his side.

Blaise for his part had his own successes and failures that had nothing to do with the platinum blonde and his soon to be raven. No, his successes and failures all had to do with the gorgeous red haired, blue eyed beauty next to him. There were just times it trickled over to Harry and Draco. In the past couple of months, he had managed to get Ron to smile at least once per day and had failed several times at getting Hermione to stop her flirting without alienating Ron completely.

On one hand, after being on the other end of one of his boyfriend’s surprising anti-muggleborn rants; he felt he could be a bit harsher when dealing with her. Apparently words just didn’t seem like they were getting through to Hermione at all.   On the other hand, he really couldn’t be much harsher with her. Breaking her self-esteem or attracting any true anger from the brunette would not only upset his darling redhead, but it would hurt the Harry and Draco plans as well as bring upon his head the wrath of Pansy.

Blaise could tell that Pansy had a thing for the oblivious muggleborn, and that meant just flat out hurting her would not be in his best interest. Having been friends with Pansy for years, he was pretty sure that he’d lose all reproductive capabilities if he hexed the girl or let her down too harshly. His failures over the past month included failing time and again to get Hermione off of his case and accidentally brushing it off as no big deal to Ron.

Oh that one had been painful.

The redhead, for all Ron’s calm exterior recently, still had a fiery temper that could spell a man’s doom almost instantly. Adding insult to the accidental injury, this happened during Harry and Draco’s minor falling out over Harry blinding them for 24 hours. Ron had absolutely refused to talk to him anymore until Blaise apologized for discounting his feelings. He hadn’t even meant to, but when it came to Hermione’s unwanted advances, he knew he had to be more delicate about the situation.

Anyway, Ron had decided that Blaise needed to feel his pain and thus cast a curse he didn’t think anyone on the light side would have ever used. It wasn’t illegal, but he got to feel Ron’s usually hidden frustration about the whole affair. Not only did he apologize to Ron, but he gave him another gift that was to stay hidden until they came out with their relationship and he managed to get Draco thinking about Harry until they talked for four days and even gave advice that he knew his redhead would love.   Blaise had told Draco that if he was upset about what Harry did, then rather than avoid the former Savior and give him the silent treatment, he should just asset his dominance.   
  
He was pretty sure that he had never heard a girl squeal as loudly as Ron did when he told him. It had led to a rather nice make-out session and mutually pleasuring each other like they had before during that one day in the practice room together. He realized that he needed to make sure Ron knew that he had no plans on replacing the redhead and that Ron was a pureblood as well and knew some of the intricacies of pureblood witches and wizards.

“How is the rest of the food looking?” Ron asked Blaise after noticing his boyfriend sneaking glances in his direction. It made him feel really good about everything between them especially after that fight they had.

Blaise flashed him a bit of a smile before schooling his features once more. “Everything looks perfect love… everything.” Blaise couldn’t help but smile again when he seen the smile and blush on Ron’s face.

~The Cooking Contest~

Bleachers had been set up in the Great Hall for students as the judging teachers took their places at a long table. Charms were placed so that none of the contests could hear the deliberation of the dishes nor could they see the reactions of the teachers in case that gave it away. The people who remained in the contest without giving up due to one reason or another were currently at their posts waiting for the first half of the timer to begin. The names of each pair were listed in the air with everyone currently being in first place.

They would have to make their appetizers first as soon as the buzzer rang. Some of the other professors were on standby to help with any minor medical issue and to give out penalties for anyone caught cheating. Many people were anxious to get started and nervous at the same time. Ron felt confident after the last minute practice that both he and Blaise had earlier today. Now all he needed was to hope that they at least came into second place.

A soft song began playing and Dumbledore rose for the announcement. “Now, we are about to begin Hogwarts’ first ever muggle cooking contest. The judges for this event will be myself along with Professors McGonagall, Lupin, Snape, Sprout and Flitwick. You will be judge on your presentation of your meal, how well it fits with each aspect of your meal, the taste of your meals and how well you work together throughout the process.”

“The prizes are 200 galleons, two free trips to Hogsmeade at any time, two get out of detention free cards, and two trophies that will be created by Professors McGonagall and Flitwick for the first place winners.  For second place, the prizes will be 100 galleons, a free trip to Hogsmeade at any time, and two trophies denoting the place.  For those who get third place, they will get 50 galleons and two trophies denoting their place in the contest.  I shall also add in a prize of my own and allow for the two students in 1st and 2nd place to go out to an all-expense paid dinner with their friend to get to know them better. There is no reason that friendship only needs to last for the contest.” Dumbledore said with a smile.

Madam Hooch stood off to the side. “You may begin now.” she said and blew her whistle. The pairs immediately went towards preparing the ingredients from their stations. Everyone was working as quickly as possible, but there were noticeable meltdowns from the beginning.   A few of the younger years had caved under pressure and some of the other teams were arguing.

Pansy and Hermione couldn’t find an ingredient and were searching for it before deciding to change up their original appetizer a little so they didn’t need the ingredient. The two women worked almost flawlessly together until it came time for the arrangement of their plate. Since the missing item was also needed for garnishment, they quickly tried to figure out something to make it look much better.

The clock was ticking down and the two girls worked harder on making it look perfect before the sound of the whistle. “Alright hands in the air.” Madam Hooch said and dishes were taken by all the house elves and brought to the front. Everyone watched and waited while the judges taste the food. A couple people were disqualified in the first round due to a use of potions in their food to change or enhance the tastes.

Slowly, but surely, names began to appear on the leaderboard. Ron wasn’t too happy that Harry and Draco were in third place, but the discrete squeeze to his hand from Blaise made him remember that it was only the first round. Blaise was probably happy as well because they managed to come in second place with a pairing coming in first.  

Pansy and Hermione were in fifth place, but they weren’t too worried about it. After all, they couldn’t find the ingredient that they were looking for and the change from their original recipe was probably the reason for the lower scores. Each group was given a couple minutes to discuss their entrée before it was time to begin again. The moment that Madam Hooch blew her whistle, the groups set to work on their entrees.

Draco was watching Harry as he worked on the fish for their entrée dish. Harry didn’t seem to be focused on anything else, but the side dishes and even with the time limit seemed to be completely calm under pressure. It was a nice change from Harry during the war and from the Harry who blinded them all for 24 hours.   He was curious as to if cooking was something that calmed his dear friend down.

‘Friend’ that word had been mulling around in Draco’s head for some time now. The fact that they had to work together for defense meant they spent more time together at first, but the time they spent outside of working on their projects had increased and even included this contest. Draco realized they had both matured since the battle and their early years at Hogwarts. It was a bit absurd to think that they would stay completely the same through so many trials and tribulations.

However, it wasn’t their maturity or closeness; well actually it was their closeness that he was focusing on lately. There were ups and downs, fights and laughter, from them both over the months. It wasn’t a perfect friendship and Harry did things that left him wondering if the green-eyed male hadn’t matured at all and then things that shocked him.   Draco supposed that it could be something akin to him not being used to the more forward emotional displays, but he sincerely doubted that.

In the time that they’ve managed to begin working together, they were trapped in a kissing prank that no one has been able to duplicate yet even though many have tried. They have become friends, had question and answer sessions to truly start over, comforting one another, had very strange accidents like in the Hogsmeade trip, kissed again, and worked on this contest together. It was a foundation which was something Draco was keen on having in a relationship.

He brushed off the kisses, because they weren’t supposed to mean much of anything. A simple kiss could not tell a person whether or not they wanted to be in a relationship with another. A kiss could end up happening between teammates or even best friends after winning a competition or in a moment of extreme excitement.   The kiss due to the prank had been interesting and he had written it off as something that would never happen again. They didn’t even know each other as well as they do now and so potentially pursuing that would have been a fool’s errand.

Since that first kiss, they had kissed again. There was the time after Harry had broken up with his girlfriend. Draco had felt bad for the girl. Sure, there were some people who would have felt that she deserved it, but Draco felt that it shouldn’t have been as harshly.   Of course, he knew about the pressure of having to or trying to fit in more with everyone’s perfect expectation of what should happen or what someone should try to be. There were always pressures and no one rose about them, not even him. When he started this school, he was a daddy’s boy but he didn’t want sympathy for that.

He was a complete bastard and hated people for no reason. Draco knew he had been a bully, mean-spirited, and had more prejudices than one could probably count. It wasn’t until his third and fourth year that he had started in secret to research more about different types of people and really took notice of magical abilities. This was part of the reason that he had stopped Harry on his emotional tirade and asked him to see that Ginevra had been hurting and under just as much pressure as he was.

Still, the kiss after the break-up had nearly broken all of his composure. Their fight had almost driven them apart, but Blaise reminded him that he should probably just assert his dominance or something. Draco also realized that no matter how much he fought with Harry, they always seemed to come back together for some reason or another.   He didn’t believe in fate, but he did think that both he and Harry truly knew one another.

He glanced up at the timer a moment and finished up the food before working on the plating the moment that Harry was done with the vegetables that accompanied it. “Perfect.” Draco said as he looked at the beautiful meal they had created. This had come out better than a lot of their practices considering they had both felt something was always a bit off, but this time everything had come out the way that they had wanted it to. Perhaps they would manage to get up into at least second place for the contest as they were only behind Ron and Blaise by ten points.

Harry looked at Draco with a soft smile and nodded. “This is definitely perfect.” he said before raising his hands in the air at the sound of whistle.

The dishes were taken up to the front and everyone watched the judges tasting and judging the food. When Professor Snape tasted their dish, he looked up at them both. Harry and Draco shared a worried look before a small, barely noticeable smile appeared on Snape’s face. Harry looked at Draco questioningly and Draco just shrugged and shook his head. He had no idea why Snape had that look on his face.

As the leaderboard went up to show the rankings, they were tied in second place with Ron and Blaise. Harry smiled a bit more because he loved making desserts and if they could just make sure that it was perfect then they might be able to win this. He would like to spend more time with Draco outside of school where they wouldn’t have to worry about too many people trying to speculate what was going on.   The moment the whistle blew to start the last part of the competition; Harry and Draco were in complete sync to make their dessert.

Pansy and Hermione were working on their beautiful presentation with sugar roses. They had decided to dress up their dessert a bit more and try to move up into third place. The girls were trailing behind Ginny and her partner by three points.   The pairing at the top of the leaderboard were lightly torching their cake though it seems like they were burning parts of the edges. Ron and Blaise nearly cried when their cake came out perfect and they started decorating it and adding little touches here and there.  

It seemed like the whistle blew much too soon, but everyone had finished.   Their food was taken to the front and their stations disappeared. The students stood around waiting for the results of the contest. It was more nerve-wracking than the exams and everyone had worked so hard to put together the best menu of food that they could cook.   When Dumbledore stood up, it was silent.

“I would like to say that I love how everyone came together to make these dishes. I believe that this will continue to promote house unity. All of the dishes were quite tasty and yes there were a few mistakes, but consider this a learning experience.” he said as he looked over all of them. “Now what you are all probably waiting for… the results!”

Professors McGonagall and Flitwick came to the front with the prizes and the envelopes for each place winner as decided by the teachers.

Dumbledore took the third place envelope and opened it up. “The third place winners, who will receive they will get 50 galleons and two trophies denoting their place in the contest, are Miss Hermione Granger and her partner Miss Pansy Parkinson. Everyone please give them a round of applause.” he said to the crowd.

Pansy and Hermione hugged each other and went up to get their prize. They held up the trophies and took a picture with one another before standing to the side of the teachers and waited to hear the other results.

Dumbledore took the second envelope. “The winners of second place are Mr. Ronald Weasley and Mr. Blaise Zabini. They have both won 100 galleons, a free trip to Hogsmeade at any time, and two trophies denoting their place. They also get to go out to dinner on me.” he said to them.

Ron and Blaise came up smiling and accepted their prize. “Sorry about your Gringotts account, headmaster.” Ron said jokingly to Dumbledore in which everyone just chuckled a bit. Ron and Blaise posed for their picture holding up the trophies with smiles on their faces.

“Thank you for the concern, Mr. Weasley.”, Dumbledore said with a smile and then took the first place envelope. “The winners of the first place prize consisting of 200 galleons, two free trips to Hogsmeade at any time, two get out of detention free cards, two trophies, and the dinner on me are… Mr. Draco Malfoy and Mr. Harry Potter.”

Harry smiled and walked up there with Draco. “We did it. I told you that you didn’t have anything to worry about when it came to the dessert.” he said smiling a bit at Draco as they took their trophies. He couldn’t help the bright smile he gave Draco. When they worked together, they could be a pretty amazing team. It made him think back to his conversation with Ron. Should he try to date Draco?

Draco smiled. “You did tell me that.” he said as he looked at the smile that Harry was giving him. He wasn’t sure if this was the best idea that he has ever had, but he had made his decision on whether he would give them a shot while cooking. He looked at Harry after they took their picture as the first place winners.

“You know Harry I’ve been thinking…” Draco started out. Harry was about to say something, but seeing Draco seem both nervous and serious, he kept his mouth shut. He didn’t want to start another fight at the moment. “I’ve been thinking that we should try dating.”

Harry looked shocked and happy at the same time. He didn’t say anything to Draco, but he nodded yes. It may seem a bit rushed to some people, but they had known each other for a long time and have gotten closer as time went on. “I would like that Draco.” he said.

Draco moved closer to Harry and looked at him. Everyone was silent as not too many people had heard Draco ask Harry out or understood Harry’s enthusiastic nod. Draco just smiled and shook his head before kissing Harry gently in the middle of the Great Hall.


	19. Chapter 18 - Dating and Secrecy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well it has been a long time. Health issues and the fact that I am terrible at writing transition chapters doesn't help. I finally after rewriting this chapter about 60+ times have decided just to post it. As a writer, you are always your own worst critic. The next chapter will be a bit lighter in content and better. My apologies again for taking so long. As usual I don't own HP or profit from this work.
> 
> Warnings: Nothing much. A few kisses.

Blaise quickly got Ron out of the Great Hall while everyone was distracted. The loud squealing noise thankfully was added with the rest of the squealing from the actual girls who thought the kiss was so cute and sweet. For one thing, he knew his darling red head did not think of his plan as being complete because the two had finally gotten together. There would be a lot more to ensure that the two stayed together for the sake of Ron's fangirl fantasies and for each other of course. Blaise didn't stop walking until they were in one of their planning spots with the door warded. "Alright, you can fangirl to your heart's desire now, love." Blaise said to him as he sat down.

"Did you SEE that?! It was perfect. Draco actually kissed him in the Great Hall appearances be damned. It was simply amazing and I just…" Ron actually squealed again as he jumped up and down with excitement. His joy was similar to someone realizing that they've won the lottery. Finally, he calmed down and walked over sitting on Blaise's lap. "You do realize that this means we have to keep up on our planning, right?" he asked.

"Naturally. I was not expecting that your planning would suddenly stop because of them getting together. It would be foolish to stop there when they could break up in the next couple of hours. Not to mention that your plans could also lead to your crazy fantasies coming true." Blaise said as he shifted and tilted Ron's head to face his. He placed a kiss on Ron's lips, drinking in the scent and taste of the male in his arms.

Ron slipped further into the kiss and let all of his other worries melt away. He was still hiding parts of his plan from Blaise, but he didn't want those revealed just yet. Instead his focus was on this kiss as he turned to fully be wrapped in Blaise's strong arms and enjoy both the victory and one of the sweetest rewards.

_The Great Hall_

Pansy had noticed that Ron and Blaise disappeared not long after the announcement and that only served to further her suspicions on why Blaise was even less interested in his suitors than normal. The main reason being why Blaise hadn't just turned down Hermione flat out. He was worried about it hurting the girl's feelings. If he hurt her feelings, then he may push away Ron and based on that simple observation, pushing away Ron was the absolute last thing that Blaise wanted to do.

The Slytherin girl glanced over at the new couple and felt a bit of jealousy rise within her. It wasn't that she was jealous of Potter – or Harry she should say – with Draco, but that both of her friends seemed to find someone to love and she was stuck with a highly oblivious muggleborn. Still, Pansy thought as she looked at Hermione, it was a really intelligent and sexy muggleborn girl who she planned to confess to before the end of the year.

Pansy took in the way Hermione seemed a bit shocked at the interaction, but understanding. Perhaps it wouldn't be so hard to get Hermione to see her as more than a kissing partner. They could also spend the holidays together and visit a couple places. There were things that she wanted to introduce the witch to and she was sure Hermione wouldn't mind teaching her about how muggles relaxed or did things. It would be a good trip as long as she didn't push too far, but Pansy wasn't an idiot. This would take time and patience just like anything good would take.

Hermione was smiling and clapping along with her other peers. Sure, she was shocked, but it was more due to the location of it happening as opposed to it happening. She had always entertained the thought of them hooking up in the back of her head. They seemed way too interested in each other especially after the incidents in previous years. Certainly, there had been better people to focus on beating in Quidditch, fighting with, and so on.

It would have been more surprising if the two didn't entertain the thought of it themselves from time to time. They complimented each other beautifully with Draco being the calm to Harry's storm. A very cliché way of describing yet another clichéd concept, but Hermione felt it was appropriate for this point in time.

These two getting together made her think about her own choices. She would only try one more time with Blaise and simply because she was focused on what a normal teen girl might be and that was asking an attractive guy to the dance, but the more she failed at getting him to notice her, the more she began to realize that he might not be worth her time. Hermione didn't feel comfortable with all of her actions, but she knew that it was what someone else would do.

She knew some people wouldn't get it. After all, she was smart, average yet attractive, and yet sometimes she felt that all there was to her were her books. Most of the other girls in her year had at least dated once, done something more daring in the teen sense as facing off against Voldemort and his minions was pretty daring, and just having fun. It felt as though a lot of her teen years just flew by and she did nothing with them.

Well, there had been that date with Viktor Krum, but she hadn't been as interested in him as she thought she was and being upset about Ron and his foolishness, then helping Harry with the tournament, and finding out an evil wizard was back. It really was just too much for someone to be able to take and yet feel as though they could still be themselves.

Hermione shuddered to think of what would have happened if she hadn't found that spell. Many of their current and former friends may not be here and so many people would have been left without their families. It would have been a disaster, and they wouldn't have known how many Slytherins hadn't actually agreed with what their parents were doing or other family members. Truly, finding that spell had been a blessing and a curse. The spell had defeated Voldemort, given them the ability to actually learn something in their final year, and just be teenagers instead of a makeshift army to fight off a wizard that their mentors claimed to not be able to defeat.

Now she was trying to figure everything out and it was confusing. When she started thinking about dating more, she was a bit of a mess because it seemed so complicated. How to match up with someone else and how to even ensure it would be worth it? Obviously, she didn't need to focus on the long run, but at the same time it was really hard not to do as such. In all honesty, she should try and have fun. There would be plenty of time to worry about settling down and marriage at some point later.

Pansy reached out and touched Hermione's shoulders making her jump in surprise. "Hey now, everyone else is focusing on those two rather hot guys making out, at least pretend to be surprised." she said teasing her.

Hermione laughed. "Do you really think anyone is surprised by that? I mean really, they've basically been making googly eyes at each other ever since they met." she said and both girls burst out into laughter as Harry and Draco went to go talk.

_On the Grounds_

Harry was walking along with Draco on the grounds. "You know, for everything you've said up to now, I never expected you to just up and kiss me in the Great Hall, but I won't complain." he said with a smile and Draco just looked at him.

"By now, you should know to always expect the unexpected." Draco said with a smile as well. "I should have asked you in a more private location. If for nothing more than to avoid the tons of pointless gossip that will be going around now. I am almost one-hundred percent sure that everyone will suddenly start reminiscing and trying to say how they always knew this would happen or that it already had, but I suppose it will have a somewhat positive effect on your ex."

Now it wasn't that he was lacking in intelligence, but Harry could not see how having him and Draco kissing in the Great Hall would be at all good for Ginny in the least bit. "I know you are probably going to think I'm an idiot for this, but how exactly? This isn't necessarily good news for her."

Draco laughed a bit. "I don't think you are an idiot for asking that. You've had enough good and bad press to last you roughly ten lifetimes and so it is only natural that you perceive so much in a negative light." he sighed and looked up at the sky above them. "The truth of the matter is that you ended up with me and given our very public, high school history and various immature dealings on both of our parts, it will look like you lead her on."

Harry winced at the idea of more bad press, but Draco put his hand on his shoulder. "Let me finish. It will look like you led her on because you were confused and not sure what you wanted. It doesn't sound good, but many people will understand especially those who may have been in a similar situation. Or they could put her in an even better light, she will become your heroine in a sense."

"How did she save me exactly?" Harry asked as he was trying to piece this all together.

Draco shook his head again. "Not saving exactly, but she did protect your secret and that is how it will look. You could even say something to that affect if you wish. I have no issues going along with it because it would have been my secret as much as yours. Either way, you will have people suddenly looking at her like a great person and the rumor mill in that school will probably stop. Rather than blame her for the breakup, people will be more understanding and sweeter towards her."

"All of that from you kissing me in the Great Hall?" Harry asked looking a bit skeptical.

Draco hummed and rocked his head to the side. "That and this…" he said taking out his wand and shooting fireworks up in the air before pulling Harry into another kiss that many people came out to witness once more. They would need to have a more serious talk later, but for right now they could concentrate on the celebration of being together.

Harry pushed more into the kiss trying to take control, but then he stopped once more. He loved it when Draco had control of their kisses and didn't know why he was trying to take control just because more people were watching. What was the point in pretending that he didn't want to relax and just be kissed and to kissed back without trying to focus on 'who's on top'? The more he relaxed, the more Draco seemed to deepen the kiss.

Harry could feel a hand in his hair and on his waist. His own hands came up to lightly wrap around Draco's neck as they continued before he felt Draco pull away and look at him. The green-eyed male couldn't help but reflect upon the thought of the team they made. Their views would take a bit of compromising on, but that is because they differed from their public personas.

"You realize that we still have to talk, right?" Draco whispered as he leaned his head against Harry's.

Harry smiled as he closed his eyes. "Oh I know. After all, I wouldn't expect you to not want to talk with me about everything and the progression of our relationship with one another. Still for all your maturity, you sure made a big fanfare about it." he teased.

"Let me have this. I do still have my moments and while I have changed, everyone deserves a nice little fanfare every now and then. If I had been younger, you might have seen me strutting around with some crown on my head and holding the biggest party in the world to celebrate what I had accomplished, but you are not a possession to show off. You are someone that I want to continue to build a relationship with and that means working things out and continuing to grow together. We couldn't do that if one of us was treating this like a game."

A thinking expression appeared on Harry's face before he nodded in agreement. To display their relationship like a trophy might take away some of the seriousness of it and maybe cause them to be less likely to work on the relationship when it needed extra work. "Ok. It's still going to be in the papers you know. I wouldn't be surprised if a few people have already sent pictures and snippets of an article to every type of trashy magazine known."

Draco just shrugged. "People will always be interested in the lives of others, but it is when they focus on theirs that they truly start living."

Harry looked over at him. "You do realize that we can still have fun, right? It is great to be more mature, but let's not make that mean we need to be total stick in the mud people."

"Muggle saying that I think I get, but fine if you insist that we should be more fun…" Draco made water shoot from the tip of his wand after he aimed it at Harry's face. He couldn't help the smile on his face before Harry did the same to his hair. The students looked in shock wondering if the couple would break up already, but Harry and Draco were smiling.

"You realize that I am going to have to get you back for that right?" he asked rolling up his sleeves a bit.

Harry grinned. "Bring it on."

"I must intervene here gentleman." Professor Dumbledore said as he came over with a smile. "I've heard about this lovely fun thing to do in the muggle world and this would be a wonderful time for us to do it."

"What is that professor?" they both asked with a curious look on their faces.

Dumbledore merely smiled and smashed two whipped cream pies on their heads. Both boys looked shocked as more seemed to appear. "Let's all have fun now shall we? Also, my congratulations, boys."

_In an abandoned classroom_

Ron was leaning against Blaise as he thought over more of his plan. He already had most of the ingredients and the others were too specific to simply as one person to get them for him. Of course, if he could figure out a similar potion, then it would be easier for him to obtain the necessarily materials without arousing suspicion. Perhaps he should talk to Blaise about the rest of it, but he was worried Blaise might consider him a bit crazy for it. The red-head opened his mouth to speak, but Blaise had started speaking first.

"This might be too soon to ask, but with Harry and Draco together now, is it possible for us?" he asked trying to correctly word this and not push Ron away.

Ron blinked. "We are together. At least, I've been under the impression that you were my boyfriend this entire time."

Blaise sighed. "I meant, is it possible for us to finally be public about our relationship? I don't mean this exact moment because that would steal the thunder from your greatest victory, but maybe in a week or two." he asked him.

The redhead bit his lip and pulled away so he could sit next to Blaise. "I want to say yes, but I am not sure. I've heard that Draco has been helping you figure out to court me and Harry has been trying to get me to be more honest and confess. It is common ground for them."

"Why do we have to be common ground for them? They have years of common ground, unspoken flirting, times of complete idiocy, and more for them to have common ground. I know you want to work on the plan and don't really want anything to mess it up, but I hate having to hide that I am with you. It isn't just wanting to lay claim to you or something publicly, but also that I am not a big fan of other people considering that I am still on the market for them to have." Blaise said trying to explain his side of this.

"Who is doing that?!" Ron said with his jealousy showing through more than he had meant it to.

Blaise raised an eyebrow. "Hermione, for starters, I'm on her chart after all, but a mix of purebloods, halfbloods, and muggleborns. The war is over and people either want to start setting themselves up for a future that they are more certain about or they want to mess around and have fun. I am guessing the ones who approach me are looking for their future because I'm definitely not known for messing around and having fun."

Ron wanted to scream in frustration. It wasn't that he didn't want to go public with Blaise, but he was worried about a negative effect on his current planning. There were two things that could happen, they could go public and then Harry nor Draco would listen to their advice if those two broke up because it would seem awkward. The other possibility was that it would seem too soon and it would make no sense.

Maybe he could make it seem to them like it was their victory and thus solidify how amazing that they were as a team. "Alright, maybe we can at least come out to them. Would that be work? It would depend on how the dinner night went. I am sure that Dumbledore would prefer to send us all at once and therefore at least someone else knows about it."

Blaise bit his tongue a moment. "How would that stop all the suitors from asking or trying to figure out if I am single so that they could date me? Doesn't it bother you that people are trying their hardest to try and become the next Zabini lord or lady?" he asked with a bit of exasperation in his tone.

Ron let out an exaggeration, frustrated groan. "Of course it bothers me. It bothers me more than I am going to admit right now, but I am also dedicated to this plan and I TRUST YOU." he told him putting emphasis on those last three words. "I know you are one hell of a catch and that for some reason in the universe, that I will probably never understand, you chose me out of a sea of potentially much better candidates."

"You should also understand that we would get a version of the hell that they are about to go through as well. Two, maybe three, of the so-called 'Golden-Trio' all end up with Slytherins. At least if they are able to weather the storm first, then it won't be necessarily as bad and much easier for me to see them in very compromising positions, but I know that's not the point. I just want to keep it just us for a little while, but I am not going anywhere Blaise. Do you want to?" Soft blue eyes looked up to meet dark chocolate ones with the question still lingering there.

Blaise was stuck between his mental rock and hard place. He understood the need for privacy, but at the same time he wanted to be able to say he was seeing someone. Of course, it wouldn't take much for someone to put two and two together. It was frustrating even though he had understood this when it came to dating the youngest Weasley male.

"No. I don't want to leave at all and I don't plan to. I just wish we could have more open dates as supposed to me dragging you into abandoned classrooms to have my naughty way with you." Blaise said with a smile.

Ron laughed a bit. "If you know a good disillusionment charm, then you can have your naughty way with me wherever you want." he said happy to have broken the tension from the room a bit. He played with the ring that Blaise had slipped on his finger with a smile on his face. "Still once we are sure they aren't going to break up over the smallest thing, we can announce to the world that we are dating and invite every bloody idiot in the world to come and stare at us if you want."

A smile appeared on Blaise's face as he shook his head. He couldn't leave Ron if he tried. "As incredibly nerve-wracking as that would be, wouldn't you prefer everyone to see Draco leading around Harry in handcuffs and edible underwear?"

"That's a thing?!" Ron asked with his eyes looking as wide as saucers. Blaise just gave him a look and Ron blushed. "Fine. I can dream. Either way, the hard part begins now. They are like a thin plank that is sturdy enough to stand up for a bit, but too much weight and it all falls down. We can use that double date as a starting point."

Blaise thought about it for a bit. "Yes we can. I think I may know a few things that can help them figure out where they stand completely." he said and began to lay them out for Ron changing certain parts as necessary to fit the two. His issues with having to have a secret relationship could be pushed back just a bit so that he could make Ron happy. However, he might just take him up on that sarcastic offer to show him of to the world.


End file.
